


Down the AU Rabbit Hole

by radioactivesaltghoul



Series: AU Rabbit Hole 'verse [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Disney Fusion, Alternate Universe - Doctor Who Fusion, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Western, Alternate Universe - Wizard of Oz Fusion, Alternate Universe - X-Files Fusion, Crack, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hux Has No Chill, Mentions of Pregnancy, Multi, Mutual Pining, Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Rey/Kylo Ren, but now that I think about it it's not serious at all, reylo endgame but multishipping galore for everyone else, this was tagged as 'crack treated somewhat seriously' before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-03-31 20:41:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 91,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radioactivesaltghoul/pseuds/radioactivesaltghoul
Summary: Kylo, in his desperation to make Rey talk to him again, stumbles upon an old ritual that predates the Jedi and the Sith. But he didn’t read the fine print when he invoked it, and next thing he and Rey know, they’re being dumped from AU to AU, with no way of getting back to their universe, and they seem to be the only ones aware of the problem.First stop? New York City, 2018. Check the tags for AUs included as they're added.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes before we get started:
> 
> It took me a while to come around to AUs, and then suddenly I found myself wanting to write the biggest AU ever. I will be updating tags as I add AU chapters to this so as to avoid spoilers for which AUs I have planned. (And as a general disclaimer, I don't own Star Wars or the vast majority of these AUs.)
> 
> This is the first longform/slowburn fic I’ve ever written, so bear with me as I figure out an appropriate update schedule. (I'm aiming for Mondays and Thursdays, although this may change.) I have about 40% written and the rest outlined as of posting this first chapter and I'm estimating that it's going to come out around 70k, although I don't guarantee that.
> 
> This takes place after TLJ, although Snoke and Luke may be making appearances (after all, these _are_ AUs).
> 
> And one more - this is definitely a reylo fic, but if you can’t stand multishipping (Stormpilot? Gingerpilot? MechanicStormPilot? MechanicGingerJediStormPilot???) as we bounce from AU to AU, this is not for you. Why? Because multishipping is fun, and not every character shows up in every AU.

Kylo was _not_ desperate to make Rey talk to him again. He was _not._ This was about eradicating all of the light side of the Force, and definitely _not_ about his love life.

Hux kept muttering about Kylo "wasting company time and resources" whenever he thought that Kylo wasn't listening during meetings, but that didn’t bother Kylo. Sure, he had to make sure that nobody overtook him as Supreme Leader, but realistically, nothing really mattered without Rey. Some part of him knew that it was only a matter of time before Hux tried to take over the First Order, but as long as that day wasn't coming soon, Kylo didn't care.

He searched through all of the databases and libraries that he had access to as Supreme Leader (which was a lot; it had taken him weeks because he was too paranoid to entrust this search to anyone else), but it was all coming up null. So he finally made a decision: he was going to travel to Kolb, where there were ancient legends of a Force-sensitive race living and worshipping some gods whose names had been lost to history. It wasn't Jedi, nor was it Sith, so Kylo figured it was a pretty safe bet that he would find something there.

He left the First Order in secret late during the night cycle, leaving a list of instructions for his underlings to follow. If it looked like he was doing some Force meditation locked in his room, no one would suspect a thing until he could return with the scavenger in hand a week later. (He'd already begun moving the ship out towards where the planet was in wild space; from its current position, Kylo estimated that it was a two-day flight through hyperspace.) With any luck, he'd be back before anyone could figure out that the screams, sounds of furniture breaking, and commands coming from his rooms were recordings he'd made.

Now, for the next step. Lure Rey out there. She'd shut her end of the Force bond hard after Crait, and Kylo hadn't been able to get her to open it up again. The first few weeks after Crait, he'd tried, but she wouldn't budge. Of course she was stronger than him, Kylo had realized with a strange sense of something that was almost pride. He even tried to break through late at night, when he estimated that she was sleeping. If there was any time to break through her mental defenses, he knew, it was while she was sound asleep. But he couldn't even sense her dreams anymore, which hurt more than he'd thought it would.

However...Kylo figured that if he was in a place that was sacred to an ancient Force-sensitive race, and if it was brimming with extra Force energy, then it stood to reason that he'd be able to bust through her walls and lure her out there.

 

* * *

 

Kolb was nothing like anything Kylo had seen before. As soon as he landed, he could sense something pulling him towards...well, he wasn't completely sure what it was. He'd flown to the ruins of a city, trying to sense for any life forms down below. There was nothing there, as far as he could tell, but if there really was a secret race of Force-sensitive beings, they might be able to cloak their signatures.

He landed and made sure his lightsaber was within easy reach in case he needed to access it. He also grabbed a blaster, just for good measure. No sense in going in without a little backup.

Kylo followed the pull of whatever it was that he could sense until he reached a temple in the middle of the city. At least, he assumed it was a temple. It wasn't big, but it had a tall entryway with a round stained glass window above it. He looked up at it, wishing he was able to take a closer look at it. He'd seen holos of stained glass, but it wasn't something that the First Order had a need for, so he'd never actually seen it in person. It was pretty, he noted as he walked up the steps to the temple entrance.

He must have been close enough to whatever it was that was pulling him in now. As he walked into the temple, the tug grew stronger until he was all but ready to run to the end of the trail. But instead of stairs going up to the top of the temple, as he expected, it pulled him down stairs that trailed underground.

Down he went, the path lit with some sort of luminescent rocks. He was near _it_ now, whatever it was. Hopefully some sort of library of Force knowledge that had been lost to time. Light or dark, he didn't care at that point. If it was going to get Rey back, then he was going to use it.

The stairs finally flattened to a narrow stone corridor. Kylo wondered how far underground he was, and for the first time, he was nervous. What if this was a trap of some sort of creature that ate Force-sensitive beings for lunch? Or worse, what if it was some sort of being that was even more dangerous than Snoke? Now that he was finally free of that creature's grip, Kylo never, _ever_ wanted to bow down to someone again.

But no, there were no life forms in this room at the end of the corridor. Just a sort of raised dais with a tripod balancing a round globe of some sort of unidentifiable material. No, wait, not unidentifiable, he realized as he neared it. Kyber crystal. What the kriff was a globe-shaped kyber crystal doing all the way out here?

_There’s only one way to find out,_ something whispered in the back of his mind. _Touch it_. Kylo reached out and put his hand on it, and everything changed as he was pulled into a Force vision.

_It has been so long since we have seen a new Force-sensitive_ , a voice whispered to him. _For thousands of years, we have waited for a new student to come and learn from us._

_Who are you?_ Kylo asked it.

_We have no name_ , it said. _We are so old that we've forgotten it. Are you here to learn?_

_Yes_ , said Kylo.

_What would you like to know?_

_I'm looking for someone_ , said Kylo. _Another Force-sensitive. We have a Force bond, but she's blocking me out._

_A Force bond?_ the voice said. _We can't do much to help you there. We don’t know about such things. We never had Force bonds here. They’re too rare. But we can give you knowledge for how to learn to work together, if that is what you wish._

_Yes!_ said Kylo. _Anything. Please._

_Very well_ , said the voice. _But be careful what you wish for, Force-sensitive._

Kylo gasped as the vision faded, and he realized that he was holding something in his hand. "A holocron?" he said. He’d never actually seen a holocron before; they were all but destroyed during the days of the Empire. Kylo wanted to open it to learn its secrets, but whatever had been pulling him into the temple had faded, and he had no desire to stay underground any longer than possible. The sooner he left the temple, the sooner he could perform whatever ritual the book described that would bring Rey to him.

 

* * *

 

It had been three months since Crait, and Rey was starting to get really sick of pushing Kylo out from the bond. (Because yes, he was Kylo again; he'd made a choice to stick to being Kylo when he'd tried to leave the Resistance for dead on the _Supremacy_.) She kept telling herself that it was no use, and she shouldn't interact with him just in case he happened to catch some Resistance secrets, but deep down she knew that it was because she couldn't bear the thought of facing him again.

Breakups were hard.

When she woke up one morning with a Force vision, however, she knew that she had to do something about the whole situation.

"General," she said as she approached the main command table where General Organa was leaning over some holos. It had taken them a couple of weeks, but they'd finally found an abandoned base left over from the days of the Empire, and they'd been settled there ever since. The technology was out-of-date, but some of it was still useful enough that they could repurpose it.

"What is it, Rey?" she asked as she turned to face Rey. She looked concerned, and Rey wondered if Leia was able to sense how nervous she was. They'd never discussed it, but Rey knew that Leia had some degree of Force-sensitivity, even if she'd never trained as a Jedi.

"Can we talk in private?" Rey asked quietly. Leia nodded, then gestured towards an empty conference room.

"What's wrong?" Leia asked as soon as she shut the door.

"I felt something," Rey said. "I had a Force vision."

Leia frowned. "A Force vision? Is it from--"

Rey hadn't given the general all of the details of what happened on the Supremacy, but Leia knew that there had been a fight. Rey had hated having that conversation with her--the pain of Ben's (no, _Kylo's_ ) betrayal still hurt--but she felt like Leia had a right to know about that fight, both from a war strategizing perspective and as his mother.

Rey shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "This is something else." She took a deep breath. "I got the coordinates of a planet," she said. "And I think I need to go there."

Leia was silent for a moment. Rey couldn't read her expression, and she refused to reach out with the Force to invade Leia's mind. (Not that she would have been able to, she figured; Leia was no doubt used to shielding her thoughts from other Force-sensitives.)

"You have a lonely path to follow," Leia finally said. "If you think this is right, I trust your judgement. I don't want to lose you, Rey," she said, giving Rey a sad smile, "but if this is what you need to do, then I won't stop you."

Rey forced herself to smile, her heart still pounding with anxiety over the whole situation. There was something strange about having a Force vision that was pulling her to an unknown planet in an unknown system, but she had to know what it meant. The Jedi texts she'd stolen from Luke were somewhat helpful, but they were so cryptic that Rey couldn't use them to learn much about the ancient religion.

"I don't want to leave," Rey whispered. "Not when I've finally found friends here. A--a family," she added shakily. Yes, her friends in the Resistance were a sort of family, but there was something that still held her apart from them. Leia was right when she said that Rey was on a lonely path. But Rey had gone too far down it to stop now.

Leia smiled and took Rey's hands in hers. "You will always have a place here," she said. "I'll give you another binary beacon. Go on your quest. See where it takes you. And then come back to us."

Rey blinked back tears. "I will," she said as Leia embraced her. "I promise."

 

* * *

 

Rey knew as soon as she dropped out of hyperspace into the planet's orbit that she wasn't alone. There was an all-too-familiar Force signature there.

"No kriffing way," she said with a groan. There was no way that he had been able to send her a vision without the bond. She'd blocked him out too effectively. She was never going to get over her heartbreak if she could sense him all the time. Besides, she had nothing to say to someone who was willing to just let people--including his own _mother_ \--die at the hands of an organization that he had control of.

But she couldn't resist the pull of the system below. There was a part of her that knew that it contained some sort of knowledge that she needed. She had nothing but the texts without Luke, and she wasn't going to turn her nose up at anything that could help her. She could avoid Kylo easily enough if she needed to. And if she couldn't, fine, she'd fight him every step of the way. One of the only ways the texts had been able to help was that she had been able to take Anakin's broken lightsaber and create a new saberstaff with it. It wasn't as comfortable in her hands as her old quarterstaff, but she'd been trying to train with it outside of the base. She refused to be caught unarmed when faced against Kylo Ren again.

She landed the ship on the outskirts of the abandoned city, and followed the pull of whatever was tugging her towards the center. No matter how hard she tried to block him, though, she could sense him somewhere in the city. If she could sense him, she realized, then he could sense her. He wasn't moving. Rey didn't think that he was what was luring her there, which made her worry about what else it could possibly be. Both the Jedi and the Sith were dead. What else was out there?

The closer she drew to Kylo, the harder her heart pounded. She still wasn't ready to face him, she realized, but it was too late to stop now. If she left, he would just chase her across the galaxy. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight, she knew. He never did. She had known that this day was coming; she just didn't think it was going to be so soon.

Rey gripped her new saberstaff so hard that her knuckles turned white as she moved towards him. She still couldn't see him, but she felt him so close that her hard-fought mental defenses were starting to fall, and she was starting to get a trickle of emotions coming from him down the bond.

_She's here_ , she heard him think. _It's going to work_. Rey scowled. What was going to work? He wasn't going to win her back. There was no way of that happening now. Ben Solo was really and truly dead, and she could never feel anything for Kylo Ren.

"Are you sure about that?" he called out as she rounded a corner and came face-to-face with him.

"Ben Solo is dead," she repeated, trying to sound more cool and collected than she actually felt. Three months wasn't long enough. She was still so angry, and it hurt to see him again. "I will never forgive Kylo Ren for the things he's done."

She caught a flash of hurt before Kylo smirked. "Who says I want your forgiveness?" he said.

"What else do you want from me?" Rey asked.

"I want you by my side," he said. "You know that."

Rey fought to keep a neutral expression on her face. "You know that's not possible."

The smirk grew. "Are you sure about that?" he said as he flashed a small device that she didn’t recognize in front of her face. "Because now that you're here, we can finally begin."

"Begin what?" Rey said. "Another interrogation? May I remind you of what happened last time you tried that?"

"This is no interrogation," Kylo said as he opened the device. He read something from it, but Rey couldn't interpret it. She knew he was saying words, but it was like she was listening to them being spoken underwater. She couldn't make any sense out of the sounds.

"Kylo, what the kriff are you--" she managed to spit out before everything went black.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_  

“Rose?” Rey asked. “Where are we?”

Rose gave her a strange look. “Are you on Ambien?” she asked.

“Ambien? I’ve never heard of that planet. Where are we?”

Rose paused. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I’ll play. We’re in New York City, on planet Earth.”

 


	2. New York City, 2018 (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo end up working at something called a “video game company” in a strange place called “New York City” on a planet neither of them has ever heard of. What the hell did Kylo do on Kolb?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, easing into things with a nice modern-day AU. Well, easing for us. Not so much for Rey and Kylo.
> 
> Full disclosure, I am not an expert on the video game industry. Please let me know if there’s a glaring error I need to correct.

Rey woke with a start to the sound of someone banging on a door. “Rey!” she heard a familiar voice call. “Wake up! We’re going to be late for work!” 

_Late for work?_ Rey thought as she pushed herself up groggily. _What work?_ She blinked again, trying to figure out why that phrase was confusing. The bed was confusing too, she realized. Comfortable, but confusing. Why was that?

The person on the other side of the door knocked again. “Rey!” she said. “Are you okay?” _Rose. That’s Rose’s voice. But why--_

Everything hit Rey at once, and she scrambled out of bed and swung open the door. “Rose?” she asked. “Where are we?”

Rose gave her a strange look. “Are you on Ambien?” she asked.

“Ambien? I’ve never heard of that planet. Where are we?”

Rose paused. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I’ll play. We’re in New York City, on planet Earth. And you’re going to be late for work if you don’t get your ass in gear. Don’t think I won’t leave without you.”

“Where is Earth? What…?” There was something else she was missing, Rey realized. “Kylo _kriffing_ Ren!” she hissed as the memory of what happened on Kolb finally hit her.

Rose’s expression changed to a smirk. “You’re still mad about that, aren’t you? What else did you expect from the weird writer who refuses to use his real name at work?”

This was so unexpected that Rey couldn’t respond for a moment as her brain tried to process that sentence. She just blinked at Rose, trying to figure out where to start with her questions.

“Oh, my god,” Rose said when she realized that Rey wasn’t going to respond. “You _are_ on Ambien. You know there are better ways to treat insomnia, right?” When Rey didn’t respond to that, Rose sighed. “Come on,” she said, dragging Rey to the fresher. “You shower, I’ll find you some clothes to wear. And then we are going to work and we are going to avoid the writing team until the Ambien has worn off.”

The refresher didn’t look like anything Rey had used before, but she managed to make it work without needing help from Rose (which would have just added to the humiliation and confusion she was currently feeling about the whole situation). Halfway through the shower, it occurred to Rey that if she was stuck in this strange new world, then Kylo might be, too. She had half a mind to willingly use the Force bond for once before she realized that using it mid-shower put her at risk of showing up naked in front of him, and like hell she was going to give him _that_.

“I put some clothes on your bed,” Rose shouted through the door. “Hurry up. We need to leave.” Rey shut off the shower and stumbled back to her room across the tiny living quarters that she apparently shared with Rose. The clothes that Rose had picked out were strange, but so were the clothes that Rey had woken up in. There were trousers of some sort of dark blue cloth that clung to her legs in a way that Rey had to admit was flattering, even if they were a bit uncomfortable. Rose had also laid out a lightweight sleeveless tunic of some sort, a light jacket, and some sort of lacy undergarments. (What was her relationship with Rose that Rose felt like she could go through Rey’s undergarments to pick out something for her to wear? With Rose telling her to hurry up, though, Rey didn’t have any time to contemplate this strange and mildly disturbing question.)

Rey found herself reaching for a bag sitting next to the door to her bedroom without realizing it, and it wasn’t until she had followed Rose out of the apartment, down the street, and into an underground transport system that something occurred to her. _What the kriff happened to my lightsaber?!_ As they were waiting for the train to arrive, Rey rummaged through the bag to look for her lightsaber with Rose keeping a worried eye on her the entire time. There was a book titled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” a bottle of water, what looked like some sort of protein bar, a heavy device that looked like a strange sort of datapad, and, finally, wrapped in a thick scarf, her lightsaber. Rey let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as the train arrived at the platform.

“How about you just don’t talk when we get to work,” Rose whispered as she pulled Rey onto the train behind her. “It’s getting close to the launch date. Everyone knows you’re swamped. We’re all swamped. Just put in your headphones and tell everyone you’re busy working out a bug and they’ll all leave you alone until lunch.”

“No offense, Rose,” Rey said, “but nothing you have said to me this morning has made any sense. The last thing I remember was following a Force vision with coordinates to Kolb and finding Kylo Ren there, and then I was waking up here in a place I don’t recognize at all.”

“See?” said Rose after a moment. “This is what I mean. Ambien is terrible for you. Just don’t talk to anyone today and nobody will know." 

That didn’t sound very reassuring to Rey, but she kept her mouth shut for the rest of the train ride to the office.

 

* * *

 

Kylo knew he’d fucked up as soon as he woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar city on an unfamiliar planet wearing nothing but sweatpants that had Darth Vader helmets on them.

There was a ringing sound coming from the device resting on the bed next to Kylo’s head, and he fumbled around with the device to try to make the noise stop.

“If you’re still lying in bed, Ben, I swear to god, I’m going to strangle you with your fancy Bose headphones.”

“Who _dares_ talk to the Supreme Leader like that?” groaned Kylo. “And who gave you the right to call me ‘Ben’?”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “You need coffee,” the voice said. It sounded remarkably like Hux’s, except for the part where Hux would never call him ‘Ben.’ Kylo didn’t think that Hux even _knew_ his birth name. “Lucky for you, I’m standing outside the front door of your apartment with a big cup of it for you. Open up.”

Kylo thought about the offer. It was probably a bad idea to let Hux in his rooms. On the other hand, Hux was speaking to him as though they were friends. And if Kylo was hallucinating some sort of Force vision anyway, none of this was real, so it didn’t matter. “One minute,” he said as he rolled out of bed. He threw on a black shirt with a big white logo from the pile of clothing laying on the chair next to his bed and left the room, trying to figure out where he could possibly be that there were living quarters in this style. It was like nowhere he’d ever seen or heard of.

He found the front door and opened it to an exasperated-looking Hux holding two cups of coffee and balancing the same kind of small holopad device that he had used to talk to Kylo. “Hurry up,” he said by way of greeting as he pushed past Kylo into the living quarters. “We have a team meeting first thing, and Rey is still pissed at you for that passive-aggressive email you sent on Friday.”

Rey being pissed off at him was the only normal-sounding thing from that sentence. Kylo took the cup that Hux was holding out to him without a word, and disappeared back into the bedroom. He felt as though he was moving on autopilot the same way that it happened in dreams, which was confusing, but he tried not to think too hard about it. Whatever was going to bring him back to Rey, he figured. Sure, she was probably going to hate him, but then again, she probably already hated him, as much as it broke his heart to admit.

(And really, what else did he expect from the Jedi-killer falling in love with the last Jedi?)

Hux was talking, but Kylo wasn't paying attention and he pulled some clothes out of the pile on his chair. He satisfied to note that the vast majority of his clothing was black, so at least the Force vision got his fashion sense right, even if the clothes were in a style that was unfamiliar to him. He noticed a bag sitting next to the door and rummaged through it. It occurred to him that if he didn't have his lightsaber or the holocron here, he was probably fucked.

_Let's see_ , he thought as he dumped the bag out. _Books, datapad, water, food, strange devices, and...aha!_ Buried at the bottom of the bag was his lightsaber, and the holocron was sitting in a little pocket on the inside of the bag. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and shoved everything back in the bag. He hoped that it held all of the things that dream-Ben needed for whatever else was going to happen in this Force vision.

"Hurry the fuck up, Ben," Hux said as Kylo finished zipping the bag up. "The Uber is waiting outside." Kylo had no idea what an 'uber' was, but he followed Hux in silence, trying to figure out what to do next.

"So what are we doing?" Kylo finally asked as Hux pulled out his small datapad-like device and looked at it.

"We're going to work, obviously," he said without looking up at Kylo.

"Work where? What starship?"

Hux put the device down and looked at Kylo, eyebrows raised. "You've been working too hard if you think that we're going into one of your story lines," he said.

"Story lines?"

Hux frowned. "Yeah. Story lines. You know, from the game that we've been spending every waking hour of our lives developing for the past five months?"

"A game," said Kylo.

Hux shook his head. "You need a day off," he said. "Which you're not going to take, because I _know_ how obsessed you get, and because you can't afford to if you want to make the deadline. But you need a day off."

"The Supreme Leader can't take a day off," muttered Kylo.

Hux snorted, which was such an un-Hux-like noise that Kylo wanted to laugh. "I know that method acting is a thing, but I think you've started to do method writing as well." He turned back towards the datapad. "We're almost there," he said. "Just in time, no thanks to your inability to get out of bed in the morning."

The transport they were in stopped in front of a tall building, and Hux pushed him out onto the sidewalk. Kylo couldn't resist looking around at the city around him. It was called New York City, judging by the advertisements he'd seen on the street as they'd traveled to the office, but it didn't look like anything Kylo had ever seen. It wasn't as primitive as, say, Endor, but it definitely lacked a lot of the technology he was used to. Like, no ships? Really? What backwater planet had they ended up on that didn't even have ships?

Kylo followed Hux into the building and to the office in silence, hoping that Rey would be there so that he could see if she was aware of what was going on. Hux--or, at least, the man who looked exactly like Hux, even if he wasn't acting like him--seemed to have no idea who Kylo really was, and kept acting like he was someone named 'Ben.' Kylo prayed that Rey was more lucid than Hux was.

Hux opened the door to the office and hissed "Keep your shit together this morning" before leading Kylo to a cluster of desks in the corner of the big office room. "Just give a quick update on the progress of the Death Star story line, and don't mention the development team." Kylo wanted to retort something along the lines of "how dare you speak to the Supreme Leader like that?!" but it didn't seem like it was going to do any good. This Hux wasn't scared of him, for some reason.

After dropping his bag off at his desk (which had a sign saying "Kylo Ren works here" with a small handwritten note that said "stop using your pen name in the office, you tool" taped onto it), Hux all but dragged Kylo into one of the conference rooms where there were already a handful of people sitting, including...

_Rey_ , he thought as they locked eyes. He knew that she was just as lucid as he was the second he saw the glare she gave him. He didn't even have to use the Force bond to know that she was thinking "I am going to kill you for whatever mess you've gotten us into" (which wasn't very Jedi of her, Kylo noted with a small amount of satisfaction). They were so consumed with glaring at each other that he didn't notice Hux rolling his eyes or the way the rest of the room got very tense. The girl sitting next to Rey shook Rey's shoulder and whispered something in her ear, but neither Rey nor Kylo broke the stare until a voice coming out of the audio device in the middle of the table started talking.

"Happy Monday, team," the woman said, sounding like she didn't actually mean it. "Three weeks until beta launch. Can _any_ of you promise that you'll meet your deadlines?" Kylo looked at Hux, desperately hoping that Hux could answer for him. Hux didn’t even look at him as he whispered "You're not in my department. I can't answer for you. Sorry."

"QA is on schedule," the girl sitting next to Rey said. "We have a few outstanding bugs that are sitting with development right now, but Rey is on it. She put in the fix for a major one yesterday, and I'm going to test it as soon as we finish here."

"How many outstanding bugs?" the woman on the comm said, sounding unimpressed.

"A handful of minor ones, some medium, and just three large ones at the moment," said the girl, "but we're still waiting on the writing team to finish up their rewrite of the Death Star storyline so that that gets pushed to dev. We can't continue testing that branch of the game without it."

"Fine," the woman said. "Dev, how are we doing?"

Nobody said anything until the girl who just spoke nudged Rey. "I'm--I'm very busy," she said. "Lots of bugs. I'm going to work very hard today." It sounded rehearsed, and Kylo wondered if the girl sitting next to her had fed her those lines. Not that Kylo could judge; if he was asked to give an update, he wasn't going to do much better.

"Good. Writing?"

Hux kicked Kylo under the table, which was the most Hux-like thing he'd done since Kylo had woken up that morning. "On schedule," he said, praying that it was true.

"Are you on schedule to finish up that Death Star story line so that dev and QA can meet their deadlines?" the woman on the comm said.

Kylo blinked. "Yes?" he said. _Kriff. I shouldn't have phrased that as a question._

The woman on the comm didn't say anything, but Kylo had the distinct impression that if she had been in the room with them, she would have been glaring at him. He was suddenly grateful that this oddly primitive world didn't have the same kind of projection communication systems that his had.

"Marketing?" she finally said.

"On schedule," said Hux. "We're working on developing our social media presence, but we need an extra kick to it. Something good, but not gimmicky. I've got something in the works. I'll email you the details."

The woman on the comm sounded about as pleased with Hux as she was with Kylo, but she dismissed the meeting not long after that. As soon as she hung up the phone, Rey came storming around the table and grabbed Kylo's arm.

"Writing," she said with a smile that didn't meet her eyes. "Can I talk to you?"

The room cleared out really fast after that.

"What the kriff did you do?" Rey hissed as soon as the door shut. "Where are we?"

"I don't know!" Kylo hissed back. "I just woke up here to Hux being scarily nice and just followed him here. I don't even know where _here_ is."

"Why don't I believe you?" Rey asked, crossing her arms.

"Search your feelings," he said. "Hell, search _my_ feelings. You know it to be true." It was a weird way to phrase it, but something about the words sounded right.

Rey groaned and threw her hands up in the air. "Well then, how the kriff do we get out of here?"

Kylo wanted to be mad at her. He really did. Because he could blame her for this. If she hadn't abandoned him on the Supremacy all those months ago, then he wouldn't have been so desperate to get her back that he found a nearly-forgotten planet and performed some obscure Force ritual using a holocron that predated both the Jedi and the Sith. But when it came down to it, Kylo found that he...didn't actually want to blame her for it, even though it was sort of her fault. Which was strange.

He sighed. "I don't know," he finally admitted.

"You don't know?" Rey yelled. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know!" he shouted back.

There was a knocking on the door. "Are you guys okay?" someone asked.

Rey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We're fine, Rose," she said. "Everything's fine." She opened her eyes again to glare at Kylo. "You wanted to royally kark up my life," she said flatly.

"No, actually," he said. "I wanted--it doesn't matter. Look, I think that if we work together, we can figure this out."

She blinked. "Why would I ever work with you?" she asked.

Kylo took a deep breath. "Because you and I seem to be the only ones in this world who know that we're not supposed to be here."

 

* * *

 

As unnerving as it was to be around Rose-who-wasn’t-actually-Rose, Rey was grateful that she was around to help her. At least, that was until she sat back down at her desk next to Rose and saw Rose’s facial expression.

“What?” whispered Rey as she looked at Rose’s knowing grin. What did she know that Rey didn’t? (Well, aside from the obvious...)

“Oh, nothing,” she said in a way that clearly meant the opposite. “It’s just, you know that this is a stressful job, sometimes,” she said.

Rey resisted the urge to tell Rose that “this job” was the least of her problems at the moment. “And?” she said instead.

“Well, it’s stressful for everyone,” Rose said casually. “And nobody would blame you if you needed to find a way to relieve that stress somehow.”

Rey didn’t like where Rose was going with this. “What are you saying?” she said slowly.

“I’m saying that if you and a certain writer wanted to get together and relieve some of that stress, nobody would blame you,” Rose said, smirking at Rey.

Rey blinked at her. Inhaled. Exhaled. Thanked the stars that she’d been meditating so much. “Let’s get one thing straight,” she said slowly and carefully. The smirk dropped from Rose’s face. “Me and Ky-- _Ben_ are never, _ever_ going to happen.” Sure, there had been a chance. Once. But Rey wasn’t stupid enough to think that he could change again, and she still wasn’t over everything that had happened between them.

“Sorry,” Rose said as she realized she’d struck a nerve. “What’s with you two, anyway? I know you’re still kinda new here, but do you have some sort of secret history with him that you never told me about?”

“Something like that,” Rey said as she turned to stare at the device on the desk. _Password,_ the screen read. Kriff. What could her password possibly be? Rey didn’t know anything about this alternate reality Rey that she’d accidentally stumbled into. Suddenly, she was slammed with emotions, and she knew she had to get _out._ She grabbed her bag, mumbled something vague to Rose, and all but ran out of the office.

Running out of the office didn’t make the situation any better. Rey had never seen so many people at once. She knew that she and Rose had taken some sort of underground shuttle to get from their apartment to the office, but as she traced her path back to the station that she’d come out of, she realized that she had no idea which train to get on, let alone what stop to get off at. She found that she almost didn’t care, though, as she made her way into the station and got on a train without thinking about it. She rode it for a few stops until she felt like she was no longer holding back tears, and then she followed a large crowd of people as they got off at one of the stations. She followed them up the stairs and out of the station, and then-- 

“Whoa,” she breathed as she looked out at the buildings and the crowds people around her. There were lights everywhere, advertising things that she didn’t understand. The streets were filled with a kind of wheeled transport that she’d never seen before. If it hadn’t been for the lack of ships, Rey would have believed that she was on Coruscant. She’d never been there, but she’d always imagined that it looked like a big city like this.

Keeping a careful grip on her bag, Rey wandered down the street, trying not to gawk too obviously at all of the buildings and the people around her. She was nearly hit by one of the wheeled transports before she realized that there were lights to tell people when to walk across a street, and eventually she wandered a little ways away from the square, needing to sit down and step away from the crowds for a little while. She walked until she came to a park, where there were fewer crowds than the bright lights of the city square. There were still plenty of people around, but Rey was able to find a bench to sit on by herself.

_Think, Rey,_ she told herself. What could she possibly do in this situation? _If there’s ever a time when I need guidance from a Jedi master,_ she thought, _it’s now._ Which led to another line of thought...could she even use the Force here?

Rey closed her eyes, making sure her bag was tied securely to her. No sense in taking chances; she didn’t want to risk having her bag stolen simply because she got a little lax with security. She focused on slowing her breathing, and then reached out with the Force. 

It was still there, although it was strongly dimmed. She could sense the other beings around her, but she couldn’t tap into them as easily as she could normally. She pulled back and instead focused on contacting an old Jedi master who could help answer her questions. (She’d heard of Force ghosts, but she didn’t quite understand what they were. Besides, a little meditation never hurt anyone, did it?)

She didn’t know how long she sat there, focused on the meditation, but she was pulled out of it by the sense that a very familiar-yet-unwelcome presence was moving her way. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see how far the sun had moved. She must have been gone for hours. She closed her eyes again, pretending to be meditating so deeply that she could ignore Kylo as his footsteps (and Force signature) grew closer and closer.

“Rey,” he said. “I know you’re listening. You’re not meditating as deeply as you were a few minutes ago.”

“How did you find me?” she asked as she opened her eyes.

Kylo pulled a device out of his pocket. “There’s this thing called ‘Find Friends,” he said as he showed her the small map on the screen. “Apparently, we’re friends.”

“No we’re not,” Rey said. “Go away, Kylo. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Come on, Rey,” he said. “We have to talk about this sometime. I don’t want to be alone here.” The words had too much of an echo of a previous conversation, and Rey fought to keep a grimace from her face. She didn’t want to be alone, either, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be with him.

“Look,” he tried again as he reached into his bag to pull something out. “I found this holocron on Kolb. It told me how to do the ritual that brought us here. I didn’t intend for it to pull us here. That was a mistake. But it might have the answers for how to get home again.”

Despite her better judgement, Rey leaned forward to look at the device that Kylo held in his hand. It was a small device made up of what looked like gold and glass. She’d never seen one before, and she was struck by how beautiful it was. Who knew that such a delicate-looking device could contain something powerful enough to catapult her and Kylo to another world?

“Okay,” she said, looking up at Kylo. And she made a decision:

She was going home, and she was leaving him here to rot.

Rey reached up to try to grab the holocron out of his hand, but he pulled it back just before she could grab it. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Getting my ticket home,” she hissed as she pushed herself off the bench and jumped at him.

“Not without me,” he growled.

“Give me the holocron,” she said as he held his hand up out of her reach. _Damn him for being so tall._

“You want it?” he said. “Fine. Come and get it.” He pulled away from her, stuck the holocron in his pocket, and grabbed his lightsaber out of his bag.

“Are we really doing this right now?” she asked as she pulled hers out and lit it up. It was rhetorical question. Of _course_ they were going to fight. She’d been itching to fight him since she landed on Kolb and sensed his presence there.

They glared at each other, sabers lit, ready to attack. “Scared?” he said.

“Of you?” she scoffed. “Never.” And then she lunged.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

 

"So what now?" Kylo asked.

Rey sighed. "We may as well go inside," she said. "If we're going to fight, we probably shouldn't do it somewhere where we'll get arrested again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never taken Ambien, but I've heard some [wild stories](https://thoughtcatalog.com/eric-redding/2016/01/44-people-share-their-crazy-and-dangerous-ambien-horror-stories/) about it. Don't take it without a doctor's guidance, folks!
> 
> Join us on Thursday for Part II of Rey and Kylo's adventure in NYC.


	3. New York City, 2018 (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lightsaber battles and Central Park don't mix. Or do they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like Hawaiian pizza, I'm sorry that AU-Hux thinks you're a heathen. I support fruit on pizza as a valid life choice.

"I don’t know whether to kill you for doing such a dangerous, unsanctioned publicity stunt, or kiss you for doing such a genius, YouTube-worthy publicity stunt,” Hux said as he bailed Kylo and Rey out of jail.

“Did you get our stuff back?” Kylo said, ignoring Hux’s comment. He didn’t know what he and Rey were going to do if they couldn’t get their lightsabers or the holocron back, and he definitely didn’t want to think about the possibility of Hux _kissing_ him.

“Your toys? Yes,” he said as he signed another form and gestured to the officers working to bring Kylo’s and Rey’s bags. “Whose idea was it, anyway?”

Kylo and Rey exchanged glances (or rather, glares). “Spur-of-the-moment thing,” he said.

Hux raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t respond.

“Rey was having a bad day, and she wanted to fight,” Kylo said, smirking at Rey.

“Ben was the one who wanted to settle it with _toys_ ,” Rey said, smirking right back at him.

“Well, whoever thought of it, it worked,” Hux said as he led them outside to the Uber (which was apparently the name of the wheeled transports that people on this planet used). “It’s already trending on Twitter and Facebook, and I’ve seen some surprisingly good video footage on YouTube. Genius idea, Ben, wearing your ‘First Order Games’ shirt with the name of the game on it. I _knew_ those shirts were a good investment.”

Ben looked down at the shirt. He hadn’t given any thought to the logo when he threw it on that morning. It was just the shirt that was at the top of the clothing pile in his room.

“Great,” Rey said flatly. She was still pissed off that she hadn’t been able to wrestle the holocron away from Kylo. “What now?”

"Now?" said Hux. "Boss wants you working on the Death Star story line. I told her that I borrowed you two to help me with that publicity stunt, but I'm only covering your asses since you did me such a huge favor. Boss wants it finished by midnight. I've already ordered pizza to be delivered to the office, since I know you're going to need every last second getting your shit together for the deadline."

Kylo resisted the urge to glance at Rey to see her reaction. "Pizza?" he asked instead.

"From Joe's," Hux said. "Hawaiian, since you're a heathen who likes pineapple on pizza."

Kylo thought about asking what half of those words meant, but then he decided that it probably wasn't worth the effort. He'd figure it out later. Hopefully pizza was something good.

"I'm not a writer, though," said Rey. "Why do I have to work with him?"

"Because you two clearly make an excellent team, and you're going to have to code it anyway. May as well make sure he writes something you can actually build into the game." Hux pulled out his pocket-sized datapad and scrolled through it. "Seriously, you two should work together more often. Where the _fuck_ did you learn to fight like that, Ben?" 

"Uh," said Kylo, scrambling for something believable to say. "YouTube?" That was the name of one of the big networks here, wasn't it? 

Hux raised an eyebrow. "Fine, don't tell me," he said, turning back to his phone. "Whatever. We're here." He all but shoved Kylo and Rey out of the Uber. "Like I said. Pizza's on its way. Deadline is midnight. Good luck." He shut the Uber door, and Kylo and Rey watched it drive off. 

"So what now?" Kylo asked.

Rey sighed. "We may as well go inside," she said. "If we're going to fight, we probably shouldn't do it somewhere where we'll get arrested again."

 

* * *

 

She was still going to get that holocron back. Maybe it was going to be a little more complicated than "start another lightsaber battle with Kylo Ren," but she'd figure something out. She always did.

"If I take out the holocron, do you promise not to steal it?" Kylo asked as soon as he shut the door to the now-empty office.

"What do you think?" she asked. _Don't ask stupid questions you already know the answer to_ , she added silently.

"You know, you're not very nice for a lightsider." Was it Rey's imagination, or did he sound whiny?

"I'm sorry, did _I_ get us stranded here? Did _I_ try to kill my friends and _succeed_ in killing my father? Did _I_ take control of a massive fascist regime with no plans to dismantle it?" Without realizing it, she had cornered him up against the wall, moving closer as she shouted at him. "How dare you tell me how 'lightside' I am or am not?" She stopped as she realized how close they were standing, so close that if he leaned forward just a little bit, they'd be-- 

"How many times do I have to tell you, I didn't mean to bring us here?" he said. He didn't make any move to push her away, making Rey feel like they were playing some strange game of chicken. She knew it was a bad idea to stand so close together, but like hell she was going to be the one to cave first. But before she could respond, there was a knock at the door. Rey and Kylo exchanged glances, and then he pushed her (gently, surprisingly) away to open the door.

"Large Hawaiian pizza?" said the man at the door, holding a flat box that smelled really good.

"Uh, yes?" said Kylo as he took the pizza.

"It's already been paid for," the man said as he pulled a handful of napkins and utensils out of the delivery bag and handed them to Rey. "Enjoy."

Rey closed the door behind him and peered at the box that Kylo had just opened. "What is it?" she asked. "It smells delicious." 

"It's food," said Kylo. "I think."

Rey's stomach grumbled, making her realize that it had been hours since she'd last eaten. _Fine_ , she thought. _Truce, for now. But only because there's food._

Kylo must have picked up on the thought, because he nodded at her and brought the pizza into one of the conference rooms. "If I give you food, will you promise to discuss the holocron without stealing it?" 

Rey reached for the pizza, but he picked it up and held it out of reach. "Kriff you," she muttered. "Fine. Just give me the damn food."

Kylo put the pizza back on the table with a triumphant smirk. "There, was that so hard?" he asked as he picked up a slice of it.

Rey didn't answer. It was probably safer not to say anything, and anyway, the food was delicious. A strange combination of flavors, sure, but delicious.

It didn't take them long to devour the pizza, and as soon as he finished the last slice, Kylo pulled the holocron out of his pocket. As much as she was itching to steal it and leave it behind, Rey refused to break a promise. "So what's the deal with it?" she asked. "I don't know anything about holocrons."

"You use the Force to open it," said Kylo.

"The Force is different here," said Rey as she realized that he was struggling with it. "It's diminished somehow. I don't know how to explain it."

"Nobody here knows what lightsabers are," he said as he finally got it open. "I don't think the Force exists here like it does for us. There, look."

Rey looked at the holocron, which now had a miniature hologram looking at them. "My name is Pewheso," it said. "How may I help you?"

"This nerfherder did something and now we're stuck in some sort of Force vision or alternate reality and we need to get home," Rey said in a rush. "How do we undo what he did?"

The hologram frowned at them. "I apologize," it said. "I appear to be missing information." 

"What," Rey said flatly. This wasn't happening. She turned to Kylo and hissed, "You said that this was our ticket home!"

"How was I supposed to know that it was missing information?" Kylo hissed back.

"Excuse me," said the hologram. Rey and Kylo stopped glaring at each other for long enough to look back at it. "I appear to be missing information," the hologram continued, " _but_ that does not mean that the information cannot be found."

"What does that mean?" asked Kylo.

"It means that there are pieces out there," the hologram said. "With a lightsider and a darksider working together, if you can complete me, then I can answer any question you may have about the Force."

Neither Rey nor Kylo said anything as the statement sank into them. _Any question...?_ Rey thought. And then: _Oh, kriff. We have to work_ together. 

"How do we find the other pieces?" Kylo asked quickly.

The hologram paused as if it were thinking. "They can be found," it said. "I can sense one in this city, although I can't tell you exactly where or what it will look like. I suspect it will look as out-of-place as you do in this world."

"That's not helpful," Rey said.

"If we find the piece, then can we get home?" Kylo asked, ignoring Rey.

“Each new piece will add to my collection until my program is complete,” the hologram said.

“How many pieces do we need to add until then?” asked Rey.

“Unknown,” said the hologram.

She groaned. _Of karking course_. “Fine,” she said, standing up. “You say the piece is somewhere in this city? Let’s start with this office.”

Rey and Kylo proceeded to spend the next three hours silently searching through the office, but there was nothing that looked like it could possibly be a part of the holocron (which Kylo had taken back and hidden somewhere Rey couldn’t find it). They did, however, find a surprising number of toys, five lost keys, a cat asleep in a drawer, and, unnervingly, two human skulls hidden in the back of the supply closet.

“I don’t think it’s here,” Rey said, sitting on the desk she’d just searched. “Where next?” She was tired and part of her wanted to give up for the night and go crawl into the ridiculously comfortable bed she’d woken up in, but she couldn’t just _leave_ him with the holocron.

“I don’t know,” Kylo admitted as he sat in the chair facing Rey. He looked about as tired as she felt. (She hoped that she was hiding it better than he was.) “I didn’t get a good look at my living quarters earlier. I woke up and Hux was practically dragging me out the door to come here. I’m not even sure I could find my way back again if it’s not on that Uber thing Hux uses.”

Rey didn’t know how she was getting back either, come to think of it. She was probably going to have to call Rose and hope that Rose wrote it off as “being on Ambien.” Rey was surprised that alternate reality-Rey was the type of person who took drugs like that. Clearly she’d never had to look out for herself here like she had on Jakku.

“Do _you_ think it’s in either of our living quarters?” Kylo asked, pulling Rey from that train of thought.

“If it’s not here, then I hope it’s somewhere obvious,” she said. She refused to spend any more time than necessary in this world.

"So how do we do this, then?" Kylo asked. "You don't trust me with the holocron, and I sure as hell don't trust you not to go off and leave me behind." If Rey didn't know any better, she'd have thought that he sounded sulky about that.

"I'm not inviting you back to my living quarters, whether I actually live there or not," she snapped.

Kylo sighed. "Will you trust me if I say that I won't leave you behind if I find the piece?"

Rey thought about it. There were a lot of ways she didn't trust Kylo. She didn't trust him not to lock her in some First Order cell. She didn't trust him not to kill her friends. And she sure as hell didn't trust him not to break her-- _Not going to go there_ , she thought as she remembered how easily he could get in her head. But she found that strangely, she did trust him not to leave her behind, if only because she knew how desperate he was to make her rule by his side.

"Yes," she admitted. "I trust you not to leave me behind."

He smirked at her. "Then I'm keeping the holocron."

She glared at him, but she didn't argue with him. She'd get it back from him. Eventually.

"How are you going to get back to your living quarters?" he asked her. 

Rey shrugged. "Rose seems to think that I'm helpless, and we seem to live together. I'll call her. You?"

"Uber," said Kylo, holding up his small datapad.

"Is Coruscant anything like this?" Rey asked before she could stop herself. 

Kylo didn't respond for a moment. She felt him realize that this was the most populated place she'd ever been. "Yes and no," he said. "There are a lot of people, but the buildings are different there. Taller. And way more ships. It's inefficient to only have these wheeled transports moving around on the ground."

"I never thought I'd visit someplace like this," she murmured as she stared out one of the office windows. The office wasn't very high up, but she could still see the bright lights from the buildings around them. The late hour meant that traffic had died down, but there were still plenty of people and vehicles moving around on the street outside.

"Me either," said Kylo. "I would ask if you need help getting back, but since I know you'll just fight me on that, I'll refrain from offering." Okay, he definitely sounded sulky there. Why the hell was he sulking about the fact that he couldn't help her go somewhere? This world had them so _completely_ karked up.

Rey pulled out her phone and flipped through it to find Rose's contact information. She touched the photo of Rose and held the device up to her ear like she'd seen people on the street doing. "Rey?" Rose asked as she picked up the phone. "Are you okay? Hux said that you and Ben got arrested. What the hell happened?" 

"We had a fight," Rey said, praying that Rose wouldn't go on about "stress relief" like she had earlier. Not while Kylo was in earshot, at least.

"Sounds like it was one hell of a fight," Rose asked. "Are you at the office now? Are you okay to get yourself home?"

Rey resisted the urge to glance at Kylo, who was failing at acting like he wasn't trying to eavesdrop on her conversation. "How do I get home?" she asked.

Rose sighed. "I know Uber is mad expensive and you're low on funds," said Rose, "but please, for once, spend the money to get home safely. I don't want you getting mugged."

Rey knew she could defend herself, but she didn't want to bring it up in case Rose started going on about the drugs again. "Okay," she said instead. "See you soon." She hung up the phone and looked at Kylo, who was looking far too casual as if he hadn’t just been eavesdropping. "So," she said to him. "Regroup later?" She hated, hated, _hated_ the fact that she was actually working with him, but there was no way around it.

"Yeah," he said as he did something on his phone. "Need help with the Uber?"

"I can figure it out," Rey said as she navigated to the program on her phone. She searched for the location tagged 'Home," and hit "request." The screen displayed a number, but Rey had no concept of how much money that actually was. "See?" she said as she held up the phone. "I can take care of myself." 

Kylo sighed, but he didn't respond. "Comm me as soon as you find the holocron piece," he said as she turned to leave.

"Sure," she said as she left the office.

 

* * *

 

Hux had sent him five text comms by the time Kylo got home. He ignored all of them. He didn't have time to deal with this fake Hux's weird lack of fear of him. All he wanted was to get that kriffing holocron piece and then go home. This attempted Force ritual had gone so completely sideways that Kylo forced himself not to think about it too much because if he let himself think too much about it, he'd become consumed by the feeling of failure. Rey hated him more than ever, and they were stuck in some alien world where nobody feared him and he couldn't have a lightsaber battle without getting arrested.

 Instead of pondering his own failure, Kylo threw himself into the search for the holocron piece. He apparently lived alone, which was good (unlike Rey who, apparently, had an actual friend here), so there was no one around to interrupt his destructive search. It felt good to destroy things again. If he hadn't been so afraid of accidentally cutting the holocron piece in half, Kylo would have taken a lightsaber to it and destroyed the whole thing. But it was still satisfying to feel every single plate and bowl crash open on the floor, and it felt good to tear the furniture apart.

At least, it did until there was a knock at his door. "Can you keep it down in there?" someone shouted through the door. "My kids are trying to sleep."

Kylo forced himself to stop and count to ten. Sure, he _wanted_ to hurt whoever had interrupted him. But that would take even more time away from his frantic search, and he couldn't afford that. When he didn't respond, the person on the other side of the door said "I'll call the cops if you wake my kids up again," but he didn't say anything else as he walked away. Kylo let out a breath, and dropped the chair he was holding. There was no sign of a holocron chip anywhere in the kitchen.

Nor was there a sign in the bedroom. Nor in the sitting room. But the fresher...

Kylo hadn't been sure about the whole "you'll know it when you see it" thing before, but he understood exactly what the holocron meant now. It glowed in a way that nothing else in this world did, like it knew that it belonged in this world about as much as Kylo and Rey did. He reached for it slowly, unsure of what was going to happen next. Was it going to burn him? Or worse, what if he put it into the holocron and Rey wasn't with him? He didn't know if putting the piece in meant that they would immediately return home or not.

Figuring that it was better to be safe than sorry in this case, Kylo left the room and rummaged around in the remains of the kitchen for a bag. He pulled one out of a drawer that was laying on the floor, and walked back into the fresher to pull the piece out of the cabinet it had been hiding in. With the piece in one pocket and the holocron in another, Kylo grabbed his coat and pulled Rey's current location from the 'Find Friends' program. It was even better than the Force bond, if it could show her exact coordinates with just a touch of a button. Without bothering to contact her first, he put the address into Uber and all but ran outside, praying that it didn't take long to find her living quarters from his.

 

* * *

 

Much to Rose's relief, Rey managed to get home without a problem. "Was Hux serious when he said that he bailed you and Ben out of jail this afternoon?" she asked by way of greeting.

Rey grimaced. "Yeah," she said. "He was."

Rose's eyes grew as big as saucers. "Why?" she asked.

"We had a fight," Rey said. "Hux thinks it was a...what did he call it? 'Publicity stunt.' I just went along with it."

"Whoa," said Rose. "Must have been some fight."

Rey thought about it. They'd had better fights, but she wasn't going to tell Rose this. "I guess," she said instead. Rose was speaking again, but Rey wasn't paying attention. What was the best way of searching this entire apartment without drawing too much attention to herself?

"--said he'd locked you in the office, and then I bet him twenty bucks that you and Ben would hook up. Did you guys hook up?" When Rey didn't respond, she said, "Hellooooo, space cadet? Please never take Ambien again. Shouldn't it have worn off by now?"

"I don't know," she said as she made her way to the bedroom. "I don't know anything." 

"If you're going to get some rest, don't take--" 

"Ambien, yes, I know, Rose," Rey said as she closed the door behind her. She flicked the lights on, and stared at the room ahead of her. It wasn't a big room, but it was full of things. Stacks of books next to the bed, a desk covered in holoscreens and gadgets that she didn't recognize, clothes spilling out of a dresser...she didn't even know where to start. She suddenly found herself filled with panic, as if she was realizing for the first time just how dire the situation was. 

"Okay, Rey," she whispered to herself. "Breathe." She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm her heart rate, which had sped up in panic, and then made a decision about where to start. The dressers. She proceeded to spend the next hour going through all of her clothing. (Why did she have so much clothing here? Where could she possibly wear all of it?) But nothing stood out to her as something that didn't belong. _What a stupid plan,_ she thought. _'Look for something that doesn't belong.' None of this kriffing belongs._

She heard a quiet ringing noise as she started going through the piles of electronics on the desk, but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It wasn't bothering her enough to pay attention, and it stopped after a minute, so she ignored it. She didn't recognize a single thing on the desk and yet none of it stood out, which was pretty much exactly what she expected given how the rest of the day had gone. The quiet ringing started again as she moved on to a pile of things next to the bedside. Mostly books, but she did find under a pillow a strange pink device that vibrated when she turned it on.

The ringing started up again, then stopped as she heard a thumping noise at the door. "Did you order delivery?" she called to Rey. "It's kind of late to order Thai, isn't it?"

Something about it caught Rey's attention. No, not food. Which meant... "It's fine," Rey said as she grabbed her lightsaber and rushed out of the room. "Go back to sleep. I've got it." She swung open the door to see Kylo standing in the hallway, a wild look in his eyes.

"I found it!" he said, brandishing a small bag.

"How did you know how to find me?" Rey asked as she peered at the chip in the bag. 

"'Find Friends,'" Kylo said as he pulled the holocron out of his other pocket.

"Okay," said Rey, resisting the urge to snap _we're not friends_ at him. "So how does this work now?" 

"Rey?" Rose said as she walked into the main sitting area. "Who is--oh." She looked from Rey to Kylo, and then she grinned at Rey. "I'll just leave you two alone, then," she said as she disappeared back into her room. “Looks like Hux owes me twenty bucks.”

"No, wait, that's not..." Rey started to say before she realized that it didn't matter.

Kylo stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind him. "I think if we open the holocron and stick the chip in, it'll have enough information to tell us how to get home."

"What are you waiting for?" asked Rey as she reached for the holocron in Kylo's hand. He pulled it away (out of habit, Rey assumed) before realizing that they needed to open the holocron together because of the whole 'lightside plus darkside equals knowledge' thing that the holocron had gone on about earlier. Together, they opened it and saw the hologram face of Pewheso looking back at them.

"We found the missing piece," said Kylo as he held it out. "What do we do with it?" 

"Give it here," said the hologram as it held out a hand. Kylo and Rey exchanged glances, and together, they placed the chip in the hologram. (It felt stupid to have two hands holding a small chip, Rey thought, but there was something telling them that this was something they had to do together, and she was in no mood to argue with something that could bring her home.)

"What now?" she asked as soon as they placed the chip in. "What do we--"

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

Before Kylo could stand up and start destroying things, he heard a voice coming from the ship. "Captain's log, stardate 1402.6. We're in orbit above planet TX99. The research team we have been sent to retrieve is all dead of some unknown factor. Circumstances are highly suspicious. But we must not get distracted from our mission of watching this planet blow up. For science." _What the kriff?_ What was a recording of Kylo's voice saying words that he knew for a _fact_ he'd never said playing on this ship?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am taking liberties with [holocrons](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Holocron) re: having missing pieces, but believe it or not, having a lightsider and darksider work together to get unlimited information [is canon](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Holocron_fusion) if they fuse a Jedi holocron and a Sith one! There’s just the one holocron here and it’s neither Jedi nor Sith, but it stands to reason that a neutral holocron can give unlimited information when accessed by a darksider and a lightsider together, right?
> 
> Good-bye, NYC! Any guesses as to where they’re going next? And speaking of: do you like the mini "next time" previews, or would you rather be completely surprised as to what happens next? Please let me know (here or on [tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com)); I would love to hear what you think! And thank you to everyone who's left a comment or kudos; you guys are so sweet :)


	4. To boldly go where no Jedi has gone before (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After New York City, Rey and Kylo are ready to be home. But there’s something strange about this spaceship and its crew…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the comments and kudos! You guys are so sweet. Looks like I will be leaving the mini previews in at the end of the chapters. Enjoy the journey back into (AU) space today :)

Kylo opened his eyes with a gasp. A second ago, he had been standing in Rey's kitchen in New York City, but now...

Now, he was back in space.

He took stock of his surroundings. He was on some sort of command bridge on an unfamiliar ship sitting in what must have been the captain's chair. Good, he was still in charge. Of what, he wasn't sure yet. This ship didn't look like any he'd ever been on. It definitely wasn't First Order, but he doubted that he would be sitting in the captain's seat if he had ended up on a Resistance ship. Which meant that...

They hadn't actually escaped back to their world. Kriff.

Before Kylo could stand up and start destroying things, he heard a voice coming from the ship. "Captain's log, stardate 1402.6. We're in orbit above planet TX99. The research team we have been sent to retrieve is all dead of some unknown factor. Circumstances are highly suspicious. But we must not get distracted from our mission of watching this planet blow up. For science." _What the kriff?_ What was a recording of Kylo's voice saying words that he knew for a _fact_ he'd never said playing on this ship?

"Are you alright, captain?" Hux said. Kylo snapped his head up to look at him. This wasn't the Hux from New York City who acted like they were friends, but this wasn't his Hux, either. He struggled to keep a grin off his face as he took in Hux's slanted eyebrows and pointed ears. _If only I had a way of preserving this image forever to taunt Hux with,_ he thought.

"Where's Rey?" Kylo blurted. That was the other thing that was wrong. Rey had to be here somewhere. There was no way that she had made it home and he hadn’t. The holocron had said that they had to work together, hadn't it?

"Doctor Rey?" Hux said. "I believe she's down at the medbay, performing a routine medical exam on the crew members who have just returned from the surface of TX99."

Rey was a doctor? That was a surprise. "I'll go check on her progress myself," Kylo said as he left the bridge, not bothering to wait for Hux's answer.

_Medbay. Where's the medbay?_ There were signs, but they contained characters that Kylo didn't know how to read. These people spoke Basic, but they had a different writing system. That was weird and inconvenient.

"Let me come with you," Hux said from behind Kylo. "I'd like to check on the doctor's findings as well." Kylo bristled, still uncomfortable with the idea of Hux being anything but an enemy, but he figured that this way, he wouldn't have to get lost on a ship. "This situation on TX99 is highly unusual," Hux said as he walked down the hall. "What do you think about it?"

"Uh," said Kylo. "I think we should talk to Rey." That would buy him some time to think of a better response, he hoped.

"I hope that we haven't accidentally brought an alien contaminant on board with us."

Kylo shivered at the thought. He'd heard a story once about one of his dad's friends having an allergic reaction to an alien fungus someone once brought on board a ship he was on. It had a pretty nasty ending.

Luckily, the medbay wasn't too far from the command bridge, leading Kylo to believe that this ship was much smaller than the star destroyers he was used to living on. "Doctor Rey," Hux said as they entered the room. Rey was leaning over a panel containing a number of lights and gauges, frowning, but she jumped at the sound of Hux's voice.

"Hux?" she asked, peering at Hux. "Oh, Kylo," she said as her eyes slid over to him. Was he imagining the relief he heard in her voice? A gentle tug on the Force bond confirmed that no, he wasn't imagining it; she'd been just as alarmed as he had been to suddenly get thrown onto this ship. _Is this ship one of yours?_ she asked silently.

_No, it’s not. Is it one of yours?_ "Are the crew members okay to resume their duties?" Kylo asked, indicating the man and the woman laying on the beds. It sounded like a captain-y thing to say.

"Just one more test and we can let them go," said the woman assisting Rey.

"Wonderful," said Kylo. "Doctor, can we talk in private for a minute?" He thought he saw Hux bristle out of the corner of his eye, but he had no idea why.

Rey nodded, then she led him to a small supply closet and locked the door behind her. "Where the kriff are we now?" she hissed. "This sure as hell isn't home. What is _up_ with Hux's eyebrows?"

"I'm a little more concerned about the ears, personally," said Kylo, "and I have no idea where we are. I'm the captain, obviously--" Rey rolled her eyes and sighed "--while you're a doctor. I think it's the same as before, though: look for the missing holocron piece, and when we find it, stick it in the holocron, and we'll move on."

"How do we know that it'll actually bring us home and not dump us in another world?" Rey asked.

She had a point. "We don't," he said. "But you heard Pewheso. If we complete the holocron together, then it'll answer any questions we have about the Force. I know you're still looking for a teacher, and I know that you keep refusing to let _me_ teach you--"

"I don't want to learn darkside techniques," she muttered.

"--so this benefits you as much as it benefits me," he said. "The more pieces we find, the closer we get to completing it. And besides, do you want to stay in this world forever? You know nothing about being a doctor."

"And you know so much about being a captain?" she shot back.

"I'm the Supreme Leader," he said. "Of course I know about leading." Kriff, even _he_ didn't believe himself when he said that. Rey was going to see right through it.

"Okay," she said. She let it slide, to Kylo’s relief. "So where do we start this search?"

 

* * *

 

Finn and Rose caught up with Poe after their trip to the surface of the planet below over lunch.

“Yeah man, it was so eerie down there. There were just a bunch of dead bodies with no explanation. Like, it looked like a couple of them ate themselves to death, and one of them froze to death because he just took off all his clothes and went outside of the base,” Finn said, rubbing his hands together.

“No clue as to how any of them died, but we were checked for contaminants and cleared by Doctor Rey, so we’re safe to be back on board,” Rose added as she stared at her hands, food completely forgotten.

Poe shivered. “I am really glad that they kept me up here for that mission.” He noticed the way both Rose and Finn were transfixed by their hands. It worried him, given the mission they’d just come in from. “Are you sure you guys are okay?”

“What?” they said in unison as they looked at him.

“You’re oddly interested in what your hands are doing,” said Poe.

“It’s just,” said Finn as he turned his hands over to analyze his palms, “do you ever wonder if what we’re doing here is right? Like, aren’t we supposed to be fighting in some sort of war right now? Why are we doing research?”

“War?” said Poe, frowning. “What war? Do you need to go back to the medbay?”

“We’ll win the war by saving what we love!” said Rose as she moved so that she was practically sitting in Finn’s lap.

“What war?” said Poe again.

“The war against love!” Rose said as she leaned in to kiss Finn. Finn seemed surprised by it, but he responded by wrapping an arm around Rose and pulling her closer to him.

Poe coughed. This was definitely not a good idea. Wasn’t there a rule against crew members engaging in sexual and/or romantic relationships?

“Come on, Poe,” Rose said as she broke the kiss. “Join us!” Before Poe could even react, she reached over the table to kiss him.

It was like a switch flipped in his brain. One minute, he was perfectly fine. Perfectly professional, just having a perfectly normal break from his perfectly normal job on the _Enterprise._ The next, Rose was kissing him, and his brain felt like it was lighting up and nothing mattered except having fun.

Kissing Rose was fun. Kissing Finn would be a lot of fun, too. But in that moment, all Poe wanted to do was run around and blow stuff up.

“Thank you,” he said as Rose broke the kiss and smiled at him. “You two have fun. I’m off to go on an adventure.” He half expected Finn to say “but we’re already on an adventure,” but when he turned back, Finn and Rose were locked in another heated kiss. _They might want to put a sock on the doorknob_ , Poe thought as he closed the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

“Captain, you’re needed on the bridge,” someone said on the intercom system. Kylo cursed. Which way to the bridge again? He had committed the symbols for ‘medbay,’ ‘stairs,’ and ‘emergency exit’ to memory, but he still hadn’t figured out how to read simple words like ‘left’ and ‘right.’

Kylo had always prided himself on his ability to figure things out with the Force, but the Force was muted here in the same way that it was in New York City. So rather than depend on the Force to tell him what to do, Kylo looked for the nearest flight of stairs and walked up until he found the bridge. He could have retraced his steps back from the medbay, probably, but he had gone off to explore while Rey stayed in the medbay to see if she could learn anything on the holopads there. Hux had hung around the medbay as if he sensed that Kylo didn't want to deal with him (which was strange, because Hux always loved pissing off an already pissed-off Kylo even more).

Ten flights of stairs later, and Kylo knew that he needed to make some adjustments to his training regime. He spent so many hours training. Why were stairs so hard? Kriff, why hadn't he taken the elevator? _Oh, that's right, because I can't read a Force-damned thing on this ship_ , he thought with a scowl.

"Captain?" the voice called over the intercom again. "We need you on the bridge." Kylo cursed, then looked around on the next floor up. How big was this ship, anyway?

"Captain Ren?" a voice said from behind him.

Kylo whipped his head around to look at the speaker. "Lieutenant Mitaka?" he said, blinking.

"Sir," Mitaka said. "You're needed on the bridge, sir."

"I heard," said Kylo, trying to figure out how to casually ask for directions to the bridge. _Oh, wait. Use the Force, dumbass_. "You will take me to the command bridge," he said.

"I will take you to the command bridge," Mitaka repeated as he turned to walk towards the elevator (oh, so _there_ it was).

"And you will tell no one that I had to ask for directions on my own ship," Kylo added.

"And I will tell no one that you had to ask for directions on your own ship."

Hux had already returned to the bridge when Kylo got there. He and a couple of other commanders that Kylo didn't recognize were staring at the holoscreen in front of them.

"What's going on?" Kylo asked as he looked at the screen.

"As you know, Captain, we're here to observe TX99 as it implodes due to internal magnetic forces," Hux said.

Kylo didn't know that, but he wasn't going to tell them that. "And?"

"And," said Hux. "We're getting sucked into the planet's gravitational pull, and for some reason, our engines are failing."

Kylo stared at him. "Our engines are failing," he repeated. "And we're just watching?" Kriff, if this had happened on one of his First Order ships, he would have Force-choked the idiots who didn't have the sense to divert resources to fixing the damn engines before the ship imploded along with the planet.

"Of course not, sir!" Mitaka said. "We're just waiting on Dameron to--" The door slid open, and someone entered the room. "Speak of the devil," said Mitaka.

"Commander!" Dameron shouted as he stumbled down to where Hux, Kylo, and Mitaka were standing. "Captain! Wazzuuuuuuuuup?"

_Poe Dameron?_ What was Poe Dameron doing on his ship, and why did he sound drunk?

"Dameron," Hux said icily, sounding more like the Hux Kylo knew. "Aren't you supposed to be in the engine room, stopping us from crashing to TX99's surface?"

"Why would I stop us from doing that?" Dameron said as he slung an arm around Mitaka's neck. "I just want to fly around and blow things up."

Even though Kylo knew that he and Rey weren't going to be trapped there forever ( _right?_ ), he didn't like the fact that there was a risk of them dying before they could get back home. "Dameron, get your ass down to the engine room and stop us from blowing up. Then we can talk about doing...whatever it is you want to do," Kylo said, waving a hand off in the direction of where he assumed the engine room was on the ship.

"Sir!" Dameron shouted, taking his arm off of Mitaka's neck and kissing him on the cheek before giving Kylo a mock salute. In another universe, Kylo would have killed him for that show of insubordination. In this one, however, he had bigger problems to worry about. He dashed off, leaving a very confused-looking Mitaka, who was now staring at his hands.

"Are you okay, Lieutenant Mitaka?" Kylo asked.

"I...I think I'm going to go eat lunch," Mitaka said, not taking his eyes off of his hands.

"Sure," said Kylo. "Dismissed."

 

* * *

 

Some ambitious member of the crew that Rey didn't recognize dragged Rose and Finn back down to the medbay an hour after Rey had released them.

"I don't know what's wrong with them," the crew member said as she stared at them, obviously uncomfortable by the way Finn kept grabbing Rose's ass. "They don't normally act like this."

In her own universe, Rey knew that something had happened while she was on Ahch-To, and she had come back to the Resistance to see a budding relationship between her best friend and the mechanic. Here, apparently, they had a similar relationship status. Good for them. "Why did you bring them here?" Rey asked, not sure why this was supposed to be her concern.

"Because I'm worried that they brought something back with them when they went to the surface of TX99."

"I ran a medical scan on them," said Rey, not seeing the connection. "The results came back fine." She did get a weird feeling from them through the Force, but she figured it was probably just a side effect of being in another universe. Although, come to think of it, she hadn’t gotten that feeling from Hux or Kylo earlier...

"Maybe we missed something," the crew member said, pulling Rey’s attention back to the situation at hand. The crew member blushed as Rose slid her hands under the waistband of Finn's shirt. Rey tried to maintain a sense of professional detachment, because that was the only way she was going to be able to get through having to watch her best friend hook up with his new girlfriend right in front of her.

Rey didn't know what to do. She was supposed to be a doctor, but the most medical experience Rey had was patching up various cuts and sprains she'd gotten over the years she spent scavenging old star destroyers. She couldn't even manage Force healing (even though she'd secretly tried). "Maybe they just need to get it out of their system," she said.

"Excuse me?"

_This universe is even more sexless than my own_ , Rey thought. "Let's just lock them in a room for an hour or so and see if they take care of it on their own."

The crew member's face turned bright red as she realized what Rey was saying. "Oh," she said in a small voice.

Rey sighed, trying not to look at the way Finn was now running his hands through Rose's hair. Something about the sight triggered something in her. Not jealousy--she didn't feel that way about Finn, and she was honestly really happy that he and Rose had found each other--but she had a flash of something that felt suspiciously like a desire to run her hands through a certain someone's hair that always seemed to look perfect, no matter how long he'd been wearing that stupid helmet.

"Come on," she said, shaking her head to dispel the image. "We have an unused exam room over here. There's no spare medical equipment in there that they can use to injure themselves." They managed to shoo the couple into the exam room and shut the door just as Rose had all but ripped Finn's shirt off.

"What now?" the crew member said.

"Go back to work," Rey said. "I'll work on a cure for this." How, she had no idea. A cure for sexual tension wasn't a priority for her, anyway. The holocron piece, however, was.

 

* * *

 

Something strange was going on with Mitaka. He couldn't stop staring at this hands, his pupils were huge, and he kept sneaking looks at Hux. (Well, "sneaking" was a poor way to put it. Hux noticed every single one. It was starting to creep him out.)

“Lieutenant,” Hux said sharply. “The captain dismissed you. Go eat lunch.”

Mitaka gave Hux a horrified look that Hux couldn't figure out, then he dashed off in the direction of the cafeteria.

"What's up with him?" Kylo asked, frowning.

"I don't know," said Hux.

"Well, go find out." Kylo sounded angry with him, for some reason. What had he done to anger the captain? Hux knew that there were a lot of unspoken things in his relationship with his captain--as well as with the doctor--but he had always thought that they could at least be open with each other about things that were going to affect their working relationship.

"As you wish, captain." With a worried glance at Kylo, Hux walked slowly out in search of Mitaka, who had already fled.

Mitaka wasn't in the main cafeteria where the commanders normally ate, nor was he in the bigger cafeteria where the lower-ranking crew members ate. That was odd. Usually Mitaka was so concerned with wellness and following healthy eating habits as they applied to humans. Hux wasn't human (well, okay, he was half-human), but he knew that their metabolisms required a sufficient amount of food to function properly.

He made his way down to the medbay, hardly paying attention to where his steps were taking him until he found himself outside the door, listening to Doctor Rey speaking with a crew member. Just as Hux pushed the button to open the door, it opened. A crew member he didn't know walked out, blushing. She gave Hux a slight nod of acknowledgement before scurrying off. "Doctor?" Hux said, looking around for Rey.

She was standing in front of a closed exam room door, looking lost in thought. She jumped when she saw Hux approaching. "H-hux," she said. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

Hux raised his eyebrows. "Am I not welcome here?"

"N-no! That's not it, I just--" She paused and looked around wildly. "Where's Kylo?"

Hux frowned. "The captain is on the bridge, attending to a ship malfunction."

"A ship malfunction?" Rey said. "What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"Relax, Doctor," Hux said. "The captain will take care of us. He always does." He didn't recognize the expression on Rey's face, which was unnerving. He thought he knew all of her expressions by now.

"Do you know anything about this mission to the surface of whatever planet we're orbiting?" she asked. "Something weird is going on with the crew members who were on the planet."

"I thought you cleared them to resume their duties," said Hux.

Rey shrugged awkwardly. "I did," she said, "but they're acting weird." A couple of loud moans sounded through the door to the exam room, and Rey grimaced.

"Are they--?" said Hux, hardly daring to believe that crew members aboard the _SS Enterprise_ could act so unprofessionally.

"Yeah," she said. "They are."

Hux shook his head. "Take more blood samples," he said. "I don't know. You humans are so weird sometimes."

"You...humans?" she asked, confused. "Aren't you human?"

Hux scowled. She knew this about him. "Half," he said. "Unfortunately." He turned to leave, not wanting to discuss his parentage any further, even with her. "Try a blood sample," he said. "I have business elsewhere."

He made his way back up to the commander's cafeteria, thinking about why that exchange with Rey felt so strange. It was like she didn't even know him, even after all of the time they had spent together, along with Captain Ren. But he was shocked out of that train of thought as sometime came up from behind him and threw their arms around Hux's neck. Without thinking, Hux twisted and threw the attacker against the wall and turned to face them.

"Mitaka?" he said as he looked at the attacker. "Why are you attacking me?"

"Hux!" Mitaka said as he pulled himself to his feet. He had the same look that Dameron had had on the bridge earlier. _Something's not right here_ , Hux realized. Mitaka threw himself at Hux, but instead of attacking, he wrapped his arms around Hux's neck and kissed him on the lips. "I've wanted you for so long, but I’ve always been afraid to admit it to myself.”

“Lieutenant, what are you--” Hux managed to say before Mitaka started speaking again.

“No more will I be afraid of my feelings!” he said as he laid another kiss on Hux’s lips. “No more will I hold back!”

Hux wanted to protest, but then he suddenly couldn’t remember why. Why was it so bad to have feelings? Granted, he had none for Mitaka, but...there _was_ someone he had feelings for. Two someones. He shoved Mitaka out of the way, ignoring his protests. He had a captain to hunt down. And a doctor.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

So who else could possibly be crying? Kylo had to know. He rounded the corner to where the alcove was to see who it was.

What he saw was not at all what he was expecting. “Hux?” Kylo asked incredulously.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Spock/Captain Kirk/Doctor "Bones" McCoy:](https://dailypop.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/mv5bmty5mtixnjkxof5bml5banbnxkftztywntkyote2-_v1_sx640_sy720_.jpg) the OG OT3. (Don't worry, this is definitely a reylo fic; poor spock!Hux is the victim of one-sided AU-induced reylux.)
> 
> I am no Star Trek expert, but the [history of the fandom](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series) is fascinating. It's [credited with creating fandom](https://www.gq.com/story/this-is-how-star-trek-invented-fandom) as we know it. (And damn, am I glad that we don't have to exchange fanfiction via snail mail anymore!)


	5. To boldly go where no Jedi has gone before (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe is a [karaoke queen](https://youtu.be/aFSv-tq5GAY), Hux has feelings, Kylo loses his shirt (again), and Rey is pissed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My notes for this chapter include the line "this thing gets weirder and weirder and it’s not like it’s unexpected given the topic and the outline, but it still keeps going off the rails and I'm only on the second AU." 
> 
> Unbeta'd, so please feel free to point out any errors I made when referring to canon Star Wars events.

“ _When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore!_ ” 

Kylo cringed at the sound of Poe Dameron singing into the shipwide communication system.

“ _When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore!_ ”

“Can we shut that thing off?” Kylo shouted, not sure who was most responsible here.

“ _Bells will ring, ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling, and you’ll sing ‘vita bella’!_ ”

“Sorry, captain,” a crew member said as she furiously pressed buttons on the table in front of her. “We can’t shut it off. He’s patched into the entire system. This is being broadcast on every part of the ship.”

“ _Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay, like a gay tarantella!_ ”

Kylo groaned and punched the table in front of him. Unfortunately, that had the opposite effect of what he desired; he hit something that increased the volume on Dameron’s singing.

“ _When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool, that’s amore!”_

“I am going to _kill_ that motherkarker,” Kylo seethed as he stood up.

“But captain,” one of the braver crew members said. “The engines--”

“I don’t care,” growled Kylo. “Deal with it. I’ll deal with Dameron.” He all but stomped out of the command bridge and made it to the elevator before he realized that he had no idea where Dameron could possibly be broadcasting out of. _Kriff._ Well, okay then. Plan B. He’d go bother Rey in the medbay. The sooner they found the holocron piece, the sooner he could escape Dameron’s voice.

Kylo could figure out how to get back to the medbay from the command bridge, as long as nothing else distracted him. He made his way down to the level where the medbay was, but stopped when he got off the elevator. Was that the sound of...crying? Kylo was suddenly alarmed. If Rey was the one who was crying, he was going to-- He reached out and touched the Force bond, only to realize that she was fine. Pissed off, yes, and distressed for some reason, but she wasn’t sitting in an alcove in tears.

So who else could possibly be crying? Kylo had to know. He rounded the corner to see who it was.

What he saw was not at all what he was expecting. “Hux?” Kylo asked incredulously.

Hux jumped at the sound of Kylo’s voice. “C-captain!” he said, reaching forward to place his hands on Kylo’s shoulders.

“Get off,” Kylo said as he pushed Hux away. “What are you doing?”

“My mother,” Hux gasped. “I could never tell her that I loved her. It’s not the Vulcan way.”

“Vulcan?” Kylo asked. “I’ve never heard of that species before. Wait, is that what you are here?” If Hux wasn’t completely human here, that would explain the ears.

“Of course I am!” he said. “Half Vulcan, half human. I am _supposed_ to be in control of my emotions! That’s how Vulcans do it!”

“Okay,” Kylo said, afraid to make a sudden movement in case it startled Hux again. “But emotions can be powerful. Like hate. Hate leads to the dark side. That’s power.”

“But I don’t hate!” said Hux, reaching for Kylo again. “That’s the thing!” Before Kylo could react, Hux grabbed Kylo’s collar and pulled him in for a kiss.

Hux’s kiss set off alarm bells all through Kylo’s brain for many reasons, but they were dampened by a sudden sweep of giddiness. _Rey,_ Kylo thought. _I came down here to see Rey._ He shoved Hux away with a sense that the situation probably should have bothered him more than it actually did, but his thoughts were too consumed with the scavenger.

“Oh captain, my captain,” sighed Hux.

“Damn straight I’m the captain,” said Kylo, completely oblivious to the lovesick look Hux was giving him. “Where’s Rey?”

“The doctor?” Hux perked up. “I love the doctor, too. I know the three of us have all this tension between us that we never speak about, but _why_ don’t we speak about it? Why are feelings so bad?”

_The three of us? Since when has Hux_ ever _been involved with me or Rey?_ “Some feelings are good,” said Kylo, “but some just hurt. I don’t know why. Rey probably knows why. She’s better than me at things.” What was he saying? These were weird things for him to say, right? “I am pretty sure I fucked everything up between us.”

“Doctor Rey is very smart,” said Hux, ignoring the last part of that sentence. “Very hot, too.”

Kylo glared at him. What right did Hux have to feel the way that Kylo felt about Rey? “You can’t possibly understand her like I do,” he growled. “You have no right to her.” 

Hux looked wounded. “I understand you both,” he said. He stepped closer to Kylo and reached a hand out to cup his cheek. “That’s the problem, Captain.”

Kylo pulled away. He had come there for a reason, right? He couldn’t get distracted by this horrifying new development with Hux. The only thing scarier than a Hux who was calling him ‘Ben’ was a half-human Hux who was professing his love for him. The gears churned sluggishly in his brain. Why was thinking so difficult?

“Rey,” he murmured. Rey would know. And he had come down there to see her, hadn’t he?

“Rey,” echoed Hux. They exchanged glances, then raced off in the direction of the medbay.

 

* * *

 

Rey looked at a chrono. Shouldn’t the moans have died down by now? Not that Rey had a ton of experience in that arena, but Rose and Finn had been going at it for a while (ick), and she was looking forward to having the peace and quiet that she would get after they cooled off. She’d been trying to avoid reaching out into the Force, but the strange feeling she’d gotten from them had her on edge. What if they had brought some sort of alien virus back with them? A Force-sensitive alien virus? Was that even possible?

Another sensation in the Force caught her attention. _Kriffing Kylo._ “What now?” Rey muttered as she braced herself for impact as he and someone else came sprinting for the medbay. She somehow wasn’t surprised to see Kylo and Hux pushing each other out of the way as they raced for her. Alarmed, yes. But surprised? Somehow it all made sense as she noticed the same odd Force sensation that she’d gotten from Rose and Finn. Before either of them could reach her, she pushed them back with the Force. Nobody was coming anywhere _near_ her if they were infected with a Force-sensitive alien virus.

“Rey!” Kylo said as he struggled to pick himself up off the ground. “I--”

“Doctor Rey!” Hux said as he wrapped an arm around Kylo’s neck. Rey assumed it was an attack until Hux leaned in to kiss Kylo’s cheek. “We love you!”

Rey groaned and rolled her eyes. Of _course_ the creepy alien virus would cause Hux to act even creepier than normal. _And I thought it couldn’t get any worse than the weird eyebrows._ “You guys are sick,” she said, Force-pushing them back as they tried to move towards her again. “There’s something going around the ship. I heard Poe singing on the intercom, and Finn and Rose are having marathon sex in an exam room. Do _not_ infect me.”

“But--” Kylo started to say, but Rey cut him off again.

“But nothing,” she said. “Don’t think I won’t lock you two in an exam room as well. Leave me alone while I figure out how to fix this.” _Think, Rey_ she told herself as Kylo struggled to pull away from Hux, who was running his hands through Kylo’s hair. _What would a real Jedi do?_ She looked around wildly, hoping that the medbay would contain a clue, when--

“Oh,” she said as it hit her. “Duh. I’m a doctor. Use the Force to heal them.” Not that she’d ever successfully done that, and she didn’t know that the virus wasn’t spread by touch, but… “Kylo,” she snapped. She would have laughed at the sight of him fighting off Hux’s wandering fingers if she hadn’t been so disturbed by the whole situation. 

“What?” he said, turning to stare at her. His eyes, she noted, were completely dilated. It was eerie, but judging by the same look in Hux’s eyes, it was another symptom of the alien virus.

“When did you start feeling…” She trailed off, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “Weird?”

Kylo frowned. She could practically see the wheels turning in his brain. “Hux kissed me,” he said slowly. “And then things got really bright and there were lots of feelings.”

Rey held back a groan. The last thing she needed was to discuss _feelings_ with Kylo Ren. 

_Wait, scratch that,_ she thought as Hux ripped Kylo’s shirt, exposing his chest and stomach. This _is the last thing I need to discuss with Kylo Ren._

“So the disease is spread by kissing, then,” she said.

“Lieutenant Mitaka kissed me,” said Hux. “And Dameron kissed him before that.”

_Rose or Finn must have kissed Poe,_ Rey thought. “Kissing,” she said. “That’s it.” 

“Kissing?” Hux and Kylo said in unison, giving Rey hungry smiles.

“You are not coming anywhere _near_ me, so don’t even try,” she said as she held up her hands, ready to Force-throw them back again. “But I think I can fix this.”

Kylo frowned at her. “Force healing?” he said. “Can you do that?” Before Rey could answer, he said, “No, stupid question. Of _course_ you can. You’re kriffing _perfect._ ” The amount of disgust in his tone made it impossible for her to tell if he meant it as an insult or not, and she felt her face turn red.

“Kriff you, Kylo,” she said. “If I go over there, do you promise to keep your hands to yourself?” 

“Why are you even asking? I know you won’t believe me if I say ‘yes’,” he said. “I can feel it in the Force.”

He had a point.

“Fine,” she said. “Be difficult.” She picked up a syringe filled with a sedative, aimed, and chucked it at Kylo’s exposed chest before he could muster up the brainpower to knock it out of the way. She knocked Hux out the same way, then used the Force to sense that they were both completely knocked out before she walked over to attempt a Force heal. 

“Well,” she said, kneeling down next to Kylo. “Here goes nothing.” She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. It was a little difficult to untangle herself from the Force bond, but that wasn’t what she needed to access. And anyway, she didn’t want to know what was going through Kylo’s head at the moment. (Despite her best efforts, she still caught flashes of thoughts from Kylo. _I fucked up_ and _Rey hates me_ were the most prevalent ones. She couldn’t disagree with him on either point.)

“Come on, Kylo,” she murmured as she searched for the infection site. She’d read about the theory behind Force healing, but she hadn’t been able to accomplish anything before. And considering the infection spread through kissing… _Oh, HELL no,_ she thought. _I am NOT kissing Kylo Ren to heal him._  

Fortunately for her, the Force didn’t require that. It was enough for her to place one hand on his forehead and the other on his upper chest (which was, thankfully, still covered by his shirt), and draw into the well of power that she held deep inside herself. She took a deep breath, and on the exhale, she pushed a tendril of power into Kylo. She felt the hold the virus had on him snap, and immediately pulled her hands away from him as if his skin could burn her. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up; she figured that he probably had to let the sedative drain from his system.

She turned to Hux, and did the same to him. He didn’t wake up, but she felt the infection snap the same way it had for Kylo. Rey stood back up and sighed. She knew she had to go heal Finn and Rose, but she was afraid for what she’d find when she opened that door.

Kriff. “Next time,” she said to Kylo, “You can be the one in charge of cleaning up your mess.”

 

* * *

 

Discomfort. Disgust. Exasperation. _Those aren’t my feelings,_ Kylo realized as the sedative wore off. They must have been Rey’s, then. And judging from the fuzzy memories he had of what had happened right before he’d been knocked out, he knew exactly why she was feeling that way.

"I don’t know which is worse," Rey said in a scarily calm tone. "Watching Hux try to make out with you, listening to Hux profess his love for me, or walking in on my best friend balls-deep in his new girlfriend." She sent Kylo images of each memory for emphasis. 

Kylo cringed. All of them were horrifying options, and he could easily have gone his entire life without seeing the traitor naked. 

"All the while, you kept thinking 'Rey hates me' and 'I fucked up,' and guess what? You are one hundred percent correct on both accounts." The amount of venom in Rey's voice was physically painful, and Kylo couldn't keep his face from turning bright red. He didn't even know how to begin apologizing for this. (On the other hand, did Rey even deserve an apology? She kept trying to leave him behind.)

"So what now?" he asked as he stood up, taking in the fact that his shirt was nearly ripped in half. That explained why he was cold.

"We need to go hunt down Mitaka, whoever that is, and Poe. I think they're the only ones who are still infected, unless they've managed to spread the infection even further. Then, we find the holocron piece, get the kriff out of here and back to our universe, and I never, ever see your face again." 

"You know how unrealistic that is," he said. "We have a Force bond."

She glared at him. _Don't remind me_ , she thought at him. "Where would Mitaka and Poe be?" she asked. 

"I don't know," said Kylo, "but if we can wake Hux up, he can probably find them. Last I knew, Mitaka was in the cafeteria, and Poe had taken over the ship's command system."

Rey sighed. Kylo could tell that she didn't want to wake Hux up, but since neither of them knew their way around the ship, Hux was their best bet for finding Mitaka and Dameron. "Fine," she said, turning to open a cabinet. "I think there's epinephrine in here somewhere. That should wake him up."

"Should it?" asked Kylo. "He's not human here."

"He's half human," Rey said as she pulled a syringe out, "and I don't have a better idea. I'm not Force healing the sedative out of him. I'm already pretty drained from healing your sorry asses, and I still have two more to do. Unless you think _you_ can do it?"

Kylo's eyes narrowed. She knew very well that Force healing was a light side technique, and Kylo refused to admit that he was anything but dark. 

"That's what I thought," she said as she walked over to plunge the syringe in Hux's arm. He gasped and reached out to punch Rey. She ducked, and Hux punched Kylo's thigh instead.

"What happened?" Hux asked as he pushed himself up. "How did I get here?"

Rey and Kylo exchanged glances. "You don't remember?" she said.

Kylo knew Hux well enough to know that expression. "No," Hux said. "Everything's fuzzy after Lieutenant Mitaka kissed me." He blanched at the thought. Kylo didn't believe that Hux didn't remember anything, but he wasn't going to fight Hux on that; he didn't want to discuss anything that had happened between them. He was tempted to ask Rey to wipe the memory of Hux kissing him from his mind, actually.

"Can you help us find Mitaka and Poe?" Rey asked.

Hux nodded as he stood up. "I was looking for Mitaka when I, um, fell prey to the infection," he said. "We were near the officers' cafeteria. And Dameron is in the control room."

"Take us there," said Kylo. "Now." 

They followed Hux to the cafeteria, where Mitaka was passed out in front of a bowl of melted ice cream.  Kylo could feel how drained Rey was with the effort of doing another Force heal in the Force-drained universe they were in, and he felt a twinge of guilt over not being able to help her out. (Which was strange, and he made sure to bury it deep down where she couldn't sense it through the Force bond.) From there, it wasn't a long walk to find Dameron, who was dancing around the audio control room to a song that Kylo didn't recognize. He caught Rey giving Dameron a fond smile as she sedated him and then healed him, and he felt a strange surge of jealousy. Rey had never looked at _him_ like that.

Once she was satisfied that Dameron was okay, she turned back to face Kylo. "What now?" she asked.

"If I may, Captain," said Hux. "I think the ship is still at risk of crashing into the surface of TX99." The ship gave a well-timed lurch, and Kylo felt a spike of alarm from Rey.

"You didn't tell me that the ship was about to crash," she hissed at Kylo.

"I was a little busy fighting _him_ off," Kylo said, pointing at Hux, who turned red. _He definitely remembers more than he's letting on_ , Kylo thought. Ugh.

Hux led them to the command bridge in silence, clearly unwilling to talk about anything that had happened between the three of them.

_Any luck on finding the holocron piece?_ Kylo asked Rey over the bond.

_I've been a little busy trying to cure you idiots_ , she said. _So no_.

Kylo grimaced. _We need to find it before the ship's engines fail completely._  

_No shit._

They dashed into the command bridge, where officers were reading holoscreens and doing calculations in a state of mild panic. "Captain Ren!" someone shouted as he entered the bridge. "Thank god you're back. We need to find Tico. She's our best bet for fixing the engines.

Tico? Kylo had no idea who that was, but apparently it meant something to Rey. "Rose?" she said. "She's in the medbay."

“Permission to use the intercom system, sir?” the officer said to Kylo. 

“Permission granted,” Kylo said. “Hurry up.” The ship gave another lurch, and Kylo fell over the side of the captain’s chair. There was a small compartment he hadn’t noticed before, and he pushed the latch of it open. There, sitting in the corner, was the missing holocron piece. He pulled it out, eyes wide, and waved it in Rey’s face. “The piece,” he said in a low voice. “We can leave now.”

Rey swatted his hand out of the way. “We’re not leaving until we fix this ship,” she hissed.

“Why not? It’s not our responsibility. We don’t even belong in this universe.”

“We can’t just leave these people to die,” she said.

“They’re not even our people!”

“I don’t care! We can’t just leave them to die.” The look in her eyes brought Kylo back to the throne room all those months ago. _Let the past die,_ he’d told her as he condemned the remains of the Resistance to death. At the time, he’d been so sure that he was making the right choice to let them die in favor of ruling the galaxy. It hadn’t taken him long to realize the gravity of that mistake.

He was faced with the same decision now: save a bunch of people who didn’t mean anything to him, or turn his back on the only person in the galaxy who had ever seen him as worthy of being anything other than a Darth Vader wannabe. Even if he didn’t give two shits about any of the other people on this ship, they had the option to save them. It felt like the universe had given Kylo a second chance to make that decision.

He couldn’t fuck it up this time.

“Okay,” he said, handing her the holocron piece. “We’ll help them.” Rey didn’t say anything as she pocketed the holocron piece, but the look in her eyes said enough. 

“Let’s find the engine room,” she said. “I may be able to help.”

One of the officers on the bridge led them to the engine room, where a woman Kylo recognized as Rey’s friend from New York City was already at work on a machine. “Hand me the Nyseth wench,” she said without looking up from the machine. Rey and Kylo exchanged glances, then looked at the pile of tools. Some of them Kylo recognized from his own universe, and Rey picked up one of the tools without hesitation and handed it to the mechanic. By some miracle, it wasn’t an elaborate fix, but it was made more difficult by the increase in jolts as the ship fell closer and closer to the surface of the planet. Kylo didn’t say anything as the mechanic barked orders; he followed Rey’s lead as she assisted Tico. Before he knew it, they were all sighing in relief as the ship stabilized and the warning sirens stopped ringing. Kylo hadn’t even been aware that they were blaring until they silenced.

“I think that’s fixed,” Tico said as she crawled out from under a machine. “We’ll need to stop for an actual repair soon, but it’s good enough to get us to the next major space port.” 

“Are you sure you’re-- _we’re_ okay to make it that far?” Rey asked.

Tico nodded. “Positive,” she said. “Captain, may I be dismissed?” she said. “I still feel unwell from the, uh, spell earlier.” Kylo noted with amusement that both she and Rey blushed and refused to make eye contact.

“Dismissed,” he said. “Thank you, Tico.” The mechanic and the other crew member from the bridge walked out of the engine room, leaving Rey and Kylo alone. He turned to face Rey. “Are you satisfied?” he asked.

She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. “This doesn’t make up for the fact that you tried to kill me and my friends on Crait,” she said. _And your mother,_ he heard her add silently. He wasn’t sure if that thought was meant for him or not, but his stomach twisted as he realized what she was talking about.

“I didn’t know you were there,” he mumbled. “Nor did I know she was there.”

He thought he saw a flash of something softer cross her features, but her voice was hard when she said “That changes nothing.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the holocron piece. “Ready to go?” 

Kylo nodded and pulled the holocron out of his pocket. Together, they lowered the piece into the holocron, then everything went black.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

“I don’t believe it,” Kylo breathed as soon as they were safely hidden away in some bushes.

“What?” said Rey.

“I think that was my grandparents.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is loosely based on an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series called “The Naked Time” (and I highly recommend reading the [Star Trek wiki article](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Naked_Time_\(episode\)) on it because it is crack as hell and I’m not even exaggerating with my adaptation of some of it, like I thought I misremembered it and then I read the wiki article and was like no I remembered it just fine). 
> 
> PS - if you’re curious, [this](https://youtu.be/cwLRQn61oUY) is the song Poe was dancing to.


	6. The Sand Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it possible to inherit a hatred of sand?

This time, they woke up face down on a grassy hill.

“Where are we now?” said Rey groggily as they pushed themselves up. “It feels vaguely familiar.” 

Kylo looked around him. Rey was right. There _was_ something familiar about this place. He’d been here before, he realized suddenly. With his family. “I don’t believe it,” he gasped. “We’re on Naboo.”

Rey’s eyes widened. “Naboo?” she whispered. “Then we’re--”

Kylo held up a hand to signal her to be quiet. There were voices on the balcony above their heads.

“--We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us and try to guess the names of the birds singing,” a woman’s voice said.

“I hate sand,” a man replied. “It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.” He paused. “Not like here,” he said more quietly. “Here everything is smooth and soft.”

They were quiet for a moment, then the woman said, “I shouldn’t have done that.” Rey and Kylo exchanged glances before sneaking off out of hearing range of the couple, wanting to give them a little privacy.

“I don’t believe it,” Kylo breathed as soon as they were safely hidden away in some bushes.

“What?” said Rey.

“I think that was my grandparents.”

Rey’s eyes widened as soon as she realized that he was serious. “Well, now I know where you get it from,” she muttered.

“Where I get what from?” said Kylo, confused. A hatred of sand? Was that something that could be inherited?

“Nothing,” said Rey, shaking her head.

Kylo was still confused. “If either of us hates sand, I’d think it would be you.”

Rey sighed and made a face that clearly said _I am sick of dealing with Kylo’s bullshit_. Kylo wondered what he was still missing from the conversation. “If we’re here with your grandparents,” she said, “that means that we’re still not home, because this isn’t our time. Right?”

He thought about it. “That’s probably why things feel familiar, but off,” he said. “We’re back in our universe, but not during our time.”

“So basically, we’re still not back,” Rey said with a groan. 

“Shh,” Kylo hissed. “We can’t be found. It’s going to create some sort of time paradox if I have to talk to my grandparents.”

“I’d have thought you would jump at the chance to talk to Darth Vader,” she said dryly.

“He’s not Darth Vader yet,” said Kylo, “and if I tell him that he becomes Darth Vader, then maybe that will change things for him. And if he doesn’t become Darth Vader, then maybe my mother is never born. Which means--”

“You’d cease to exist and therefore be one less antagonizing figure in my life?”

Kylo shot her a look. “You can’t mean that,” he said. “If I hadn’t come to Jakku in search of a droid that had crash-landed on that sad excuse for a planet, you would still be there, scavenging for scrap metal on the inside of dead star destroyers, waiting for someone who would never return.”

Rey winced, and Kylo wondered if he’d been too sharp. He didn’t know if she realized the extent to which he had access to her memories of that rotten sand pit of a planet. He hadn’t meant to thrown her past in his face (again), but knowing that she still hated him hurt in a way that he still wasn’t used to. He nearly apologized, but then he remembered himself. Kylo Ren didn’t _do_ apologies. _Especially_ not to someone who was ready to abandon him at the drop of a hat, just like everyone else he’d ever cared about.

“Come on,” he said when she didn’t respond. “Let’s just find that damn holocron piece and get out of here before I ruin the future.”

 

* * *

 

Rey thought that this might be the weirdest universe yet. At least in the other ones, she knew why they were all unfamiliar. Here, things felt just a shade off of familiar. She could sense other people around her, including a Force signature as strong as Kylo’s, although the stranger’s--Anakin’s--was much brighter. Rey didn’t know much about Kylo’s family history (which was a little surprising, given how much time they’d spent in each others’ heads by now), but it was nearly impossible to believe that someone with such a bright Force signature would turn into a Sith responsible for the destruction of an entire planet. She and Kylo were afraid that Anakin would sense their presence (after all, they weren’t exactly easy to miss for anyone with any Force-sensitivity), but he was too distracted by the woman--Kylo’s grandmother--to notice anything amiss in the Force. 

“It’s beautiful here,” Rey couldn’t help but murmur as she peeked out through the bushes to stare at the lake around them. Takodana was beautiful, but Naboo’s lakes and trees were even more breathtaking than anything Rey had ever even been able to imagine.

“This is my grandmother’s family’s home,” Kylo whispered.

“So does that mean it belongs to you? In the future, I mean,” she said.

“Possibly,” said Kylo. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not really in touch with my family.”

_That’s putting it lightly,_ Rey thought, but she refrained from saying it aloud.

“Besides,” he added, “Naboo is peaceful. I don’t want to invade it.”

Rey had nothing good to say in response to that. “If I could live in a place like this, I’d never leave the planet again,” she said instead.

“There aren’t many places more beautiful than here,” said Kylo, surprising Rey. She’d never heard him sound so _wistful_. It was almost endearing.

Almost.

“Have you been here before?” she asked.

He nodded. “Once, when I was really young. That was before I knew that my grandfather was actually Darth Vader. I had no idea I was visiting someplace my grandparents had lived. I was too young to pay much attention to why we were there, anyway.”

“You didn’t always know about your grandfather?”

Kylo took a deep breath. “No,” he said. “I didn’t.”

Rey sensed that he didn’t want to keep talking about his family, so she didn’t push it. The fact that family was an off-limits topic for both of them was probably the only thing they agreed on. “Do you remember your way around this place enough to know where to start looking?” she asked. 

“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “We’ll have to be careful.”

“Obviously,” she said under her breath.

Without much further discussion, they made their way out of the bushes and sneaked around, trying to find a backdoor to the villa. They were both on high alert for any signs of people or droids coming their way, and they were relieved to find that Varykino didn’t have a huge house staff at the moment. 

_If there’s something even remotely holocron piece-like,_ Kylo said to Rey, _I have a feeling that it’s in the library._

_This place has a library?_ she asked.

_A small one,_ he said. _I think I remember the way._

He led her through a maze of empty hallways. Or, rather, nearly empty hallways. They were halfway down one hallway when they heard voices coming from around the corner. Rey froze, then nearly yelped as Kylo put a hand over her mouth and pulled her close to hide in one of the massive curtains hanging by the equally massive windows lining the hallway. _Get your hands off of me!_ she wanted to scream as he wrapped his other arm around her waist to pin her back against his massive chest. He was holding her so tightly that she could feel his heart pounding against her back, which somehow made her more uncomfortable than the fact that she could feel his breath tickling her ear.

_We can’t afford to get caught,_ he shot back, refusing to move his hand. She struggled, but froze as soon as she realized how near the footsteps and voices were. She and Kylo were barely breathing as they heard the speakers walk by, praying that none of them had any Force-sensitivity.

It wasn’t until the voices and footsteps were long past that Kylo finally let go of Rey. She made it a point of wiping off her mouth (even though she knew it was immature), still glaring at him. _Don’t touch me again,_ she said.

_If it keeps us from getting caught and possibly ripping a hole in the time-space continuum, I will_ absolutely _touch you like that again._ To give him credit, she did feel a twinge of something that felt like guilt coming from him, but that was completely negated by the fact that he refused to apologize for putting his hands on her without her permission.

They kept moving in silence, mostly keeping out of the way of other people. At one point they turned a corner and caught a glimpse of a man and a woman sitting at a table, eating dinner.

_That’s them,_ she heard Kylo think. _Anakin and Padme._ They watched as Anakin used the Force to lift a pear off of Padme’s plate, slice it in half, and float it back onto her fork. _That’s definitely an inappropriate use of the Force,_ Kylo added.

_Your grandparents are hot,_ Rey thought before she could stop herself. Kylo inhaled sharply, and she would have laughed if she wasn’t so afraid of getting caught.

They moved on, confident that Anakin and Padme were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else going on around them.

It didn’t take much longer to find the library. They sneaked in, then Kylo locked the door behind them. “In case someone decides they feel like reading,” he explained when he saw the look Rey gave him. 

“Isn’t it suspicious to have the library locked in the first place?” she asked.

“At least this will give us some warning, since they’ll have to find the key,” Kylo said as he walked towards the center of the library.

Rey didn’t have a lot of experience with libraries. The closest thing she’d seen was probably the cave on Ahch-To. But if this is what a typical library looked like, she wanted one of her own. There were shelves lining the wall, with a small balcony that allowed someone to reach the higher shelves. There were doors that Rey thought led back outside, but they were closed and locked. Light streamed in from windows looking out over the lake, and Rey couldn’t resist the urge to stop for a moment to take in the view. She’d never imagined so much water or so much green in all the years she’d lived on Jakku, and she was still amazed that there were places like this in the galaxy, despite having seen Takodana and Ahch-To.

“What are you doing?” Kylo hissed, grabbing Rey’s arm to pull her away from the window. “You’re going to get caught if you stand there like that.”

Rey ripped her arm out of Kylo’s grip. “I told you to keep your hands off of me,” she hissed. “ _Sorry_ for wanting to take a minute to admire the view.” She walked back towards the middle of the library and looked around. In addition to shelves crammed with books (actual _books_!), there were a number of shelves holding trinkets and small devices that Rey didn’t recognize and a couple of desks filled with drawers. “How are we supposed to find the holocron piece?” she asked as something occurred to her. “If we’re back in a version of our universe, it won’t stick out.”

Kylo sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m trusting that there will be some sort of Force signature on it.”

“Fine,” said Rey. “You check the desks. I’ll check the shelves.” It was hard to resist the urge to take the devices that looked like they would bring in a lot of portions back on Jakku. _Old habits die hard,_ she thought grimly as she inspected the trinkets on one of the shelves. “Anything yet?” she said to Kylo as she finished inspecting one of the shelves. She trailed her fingers over the spines of the books as she walked over to one of the other shelves full of trinkets, fighting the urge to stop and read some of the books on the neighboring shelves. There was so much knowledge contained in this library. She couldn’t help but wonder if these books were still in Varykino in her time.

“Nothing yet,” said Kylo as he shut one of the drawers. “You?”

Rey squinted at the shelf. There was _something_ there. She inspected the figurines lining the shelf, then said, “I sense something here, but none of these things looks like the other holocron pieces we’ve seen.” She heard Kylo’s footsteps approaching, but she didn’t turn away from the shelf. 

“You’re right,” he murmured, too close for comfort. She turned her head and was mildly alarmed to see his face right over her shoulder. _Does he do that on purpose?_ she thought.

“Get out of my personal space bubble,” she snapped. When he didn’t respond, she stepped away to inspect some of the books on the next shelf. One of the books caught her eye, and she pulled it off the shelf and opened it up. Her first thought was _Who was wasteful enough to cut a hole in the pages of this book?_ but it was quickly replaced with _Oh stars, here it is._ She showed Kylo the book, unable to keep a triumphant smirk off her face. “Found it,” she said.

“Finally,” he muttered. “Let’s get the kriff out of here.” He pulled the holocron out of his pocket, then they dropped the piece inside of it. Rey had just enough time to think _I wish we could have spent more time here_ before everything went black.

  


* * *

 

_Next time…_

“No, it’s not that,” he said quickly. “It’s--” He stopped, suddenly alarmed at the music that began playing from somewhere. “Where is that music coming from?”

Rey was equally alarmed, but before she could answer his question, she found herself _singing._ And Rey didn’t sing. Ever. 

“There’s something sweet,” she sang, “and almost kind. But he was mean, and he was coarse, and unrefined.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Kylo, you flirt just as well as Anakin does. This is definitely what Han actually meant when he said Ben has “too much of Vader in him” ( _definitely_ ). I am pretty sure that the pear thing happens on a later date than Anakin’s iconic sand line, but shhhh, just go with it.
> 
> Sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping that Kylo would actually talk to Anakin, but he’s seen too many episodes of time travel holovid shows to know how that would end :)
> 
> The exterior of Varykino was filmed at the [Villa de Balbianello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_del_Balbianello) in Italy. The interior scenes in AotC aren’t based on the interior of the Villa de Balbianello, but I’ve based the library on one of the [pictures](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/cb/fd/70/cbfd7086012bc12114d4d0e095b47170.jpg) I found of the villa online:


	7. Jedi and the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [There's something there that wasn't there before.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwZEcdBMLLU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, unbeta'd, and sometimes I get lazy with canon. I don't own Disney. Feel free to point out any glaring SW errors.

It was jarring to be in Varykino one moment and somewhere snowy the next. (Well, the jump between universes was always jarring, but it was _especially_ jarring to have such a big temperature difference between the two places.) Rey was surprised by how quickly they’d found the holocron piece on Naboo. She took it as a good sign that they were getting better at finding pieces and that therefore they were almost on their way home. 

She looked down, mildly alarmed to find that she was in a pink dress. How was she supposed to fight in this? Her lightsaber was still clipped to her belt, thank the Force, but she was going to be very weighed down by the amount of fabric covering her body if she had to fight. She looked around, trying to find Kylo. She half expected to find him covered in a similar amount of fabric as she was, but he was wearing something a little more manageable than her. Black pants, a white shirt, a giant purple cloak, and, disconcertingly, no shoes. In snow.

“Your feet must be freezing,” she said without thinking.

He turned to look at her. “What are you wearing?”

Rey looked down, feeling suddenly insecure. Sure, she hated the dress, but he didn’t have to sound so _critical_ about it. “It’s not my fault this new universe decided to dump me in a massive dress,” she snapped.

“No, that’s not it,” he said quickly. “It’s--” He stopped, suddenly alarmed at the music that began playing from somewhere. “Where is that music coming from?”

Rey was equally alarmed, but before she could answer his question, she found herself _singing._ And Rey didn’t sing. Ever.

“There’s something sweet,” she sang, “and almost kind. But he was mean, and he was coarse, and unrefined.”

“Who are you talking about?” said Kylo. “Are you talking about me?”

“And now he’s dear and so unsure. I wonder why I didn’t see it there before.” Rey’s eyes widened as she finished the stanza. She definitely wasn’t talking about Kylo, but…

“What in all karking hells is this?” she snarled at Kylo, who had opened his mouth to sing his own stanza.

“She glanced this way. I thought I saw,” he sang. He had a nicer voice than Rey would have expected. She couldn’t tell if his face was red because he was embarrassed, or if it was because of the cold. _Both, probably,_ she thought. He glared at her; she must have projected that thought. Oops.

But the magic--or whatever it was--about this place kept him from responding. “And when we touched, she didn’t shudder at my paw. No, it can’t be. I’ll just ignore. But then she’s never looked at me that way before.” _This is definitely not about you at all,_ he all but screamed down the Force bond at her.

“This is all your kriffing fault,” she managed to shout before she started singing again. “New and a bit alarming. Who’d have ever thought that this could be?” _This is absolutely not about you,_ she added silently. “True that he’s no Prince Charming, but there’s something in him that I simply didn’t see.”

The music kept playing. They heard other voices coming from someplace else, but their parts in the song were, thankfully, finished.

“This is probably the worst one yet,” Rey said. “Seriously, singing? Stars, I hate you so much right now for dragging me into this.”

“That’s fair,” he said, refusing to meet her eyes. “You probably don’t hate me any more than I hate myself for bringing this upon us right now.”

“Want to bet?”

Kylo sighed. “Not really,” he said as he turned to trudge towards the castle. Rey hadn’t noticed at first--she was too busy being pissed off about the clothes she was wearing--but she realized that they were standing in the garden of a massive castle. If she hadn’t been so pissed off (and embarrassed) over the whole singing thing, she might have enjoyed the novelty of being in snow. As it was, though, between her and Kylo’s embarrassment, she had never wanted to curl up and die so badly.

“I wish we’d had more time in Varykino,” Rey said, hoping to break the tension brought on by mutual embarrassment. “Especially if it meant that we’d get to skip this place." 

“I can’t believe you think my grandparents are hot,” Kylo said, sounding grateful for a change in topic.

“We’re not talking about that comment,” she said as she followed him to the castle. There was an uncomfortable implication about where he got his looks from in that statement, and like hell she was going to let him know how attractive she found him.

 

* * *

 

The music had faded by the time they made it to the castle, and Kylo shivered as Rey shut the castle door behind her. It was warmer in the castle, but not by much. “Where now?” she asked. _This isn’t anything like Maz’s castle,_ he heard her think.

“I don’t know,” he said as he wandered off down the hall. Rey followed, embarrassment still radiating off of her. Him, too, he was sure. “You know I _am_ a prince, right?” 

Rey stopped short and stared at him. “Excuse me?” 

Kylo suddenly wished that he hadn’t said anything, but he continued. “Yeah. My mother is the princess of Alderaan. So that makes me…”

“A prince,” said Rey, giving him a look that he couldn’t decipher. “A prince of a planet that was destroyed by the figure he worships. Kylo, your grandfather destroyed your mother’s entire homeworld and _made her watch._ ”

Kylo cringed. He wished he hadn’t brought it up. But after the strange trip to pre-Clone War Naboo, all he could think about was how fucked-up his family was. “Yeah,” he said. “That.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Good question. Why _was_ he telling her that? It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d just been singing about a prince. Definitely not. “It was weird,” he said. “Seeing my grandparents like that.”

“It made you realize that Darth Vader wasn’t as dark as you always thought, didn’t it?” She was too good at picking up on the thoughts that were still half-formed in his brain. He had no idea if it was because of the Force bond or not, but he had a feeling that she would have been able to do it anyway. Something about her just lowered his defenses in a really uncomfortable way.

So, naturally, as revenge, he had orchestrated a trap for her that he had also fallen into with no clear way of getting out of, because he was incapable of doing anything right.

“I didn’t realize how much good he had in him,” Kylo admitted.

“I don’t think that the Force is as simple as ‘light side versus dark side,’” said Rey. “I am a Jedi. Or, at least, I want to be. I will _never_ turn to the dark side. But what the Jedi of the Republic believed in…” She trailed off. Kylo didn’t interrupt, wanting to see where she was going with it. “I have some ancient Jedi texts,” she continued. “I got them from Master Skywalker.”

Kylo cringed as the mention of his uncle, but he caught something that she left unsaid. “You mean, you _stole_ them,” he said with a delighted grin. “You _do_ have a dark side in you!” 

Rey shot him a look. “I didn’t steal them,” she said. “I _scavenged_ them. Which is good, because Luke is gone, so now it’s up to me to be the last Jedi. I’m good at teaching myself things, but I want to make sure I do this right.” 

Kylo didn’t respond to that. It brought back memories of Crait, which was something he never wanted to think about again, especially with Rey in close enough proximity to sense his thoughts on the matter. He’d felt Skywalker passing, but rather then leave him with a sense of satisfied relief that his uncle was finally dead, Skywalker’s last words to him left him with a sense of dread. He was already haunted by his father’s death. He didn’t need Skywalker’s, too. “Come on,” he said, needing to change the subject. “This way.”

Rey followed him as he turned down another hallway, neither of them really certain of where they were headed. He hoped that they’d find the next holocron piece as quickly as they’d found the one in Varykino.

The hallways were only lit with candlesticks, and night had fallen quickly once they’d left the garden. Apparently, this place had never heard of electricity. It was a little creepy, and Kylo caught a stray thought from Rey that she thought she saw a face in one of the candles. But when the candle jumped off the shelf and smiled at them, her eyes went as wide as saucers.

 _What the kark?_ he thought as the candle began to speak.

“Ah, Master,” it said. “Dinner will be ready at five o’clock.”

Rey and Kylo exchanged glances. “Dinner?” Kylo asked.

“As requested,” the candle said. “For you and the lady.”

 _What’s a candle doing, inviting us to dinner?_ Rey asked silently. _And why does it sound like Finn?_ Aloud, she said, “Uh, thank you for the invitation.” Kylo got the sense that she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to eat--he didn’t even know how long it had been since they’d last eaten due to the craziness of getting dumped from universe to universe--but he wanted to find the holocron piece more than he wanted dinner.

A clock appeared, walking over to stand next to the candle. “You have just enough time to get dressed,” it said, sounding suspiciously like Poe Dameron.

 _Dressed?_ Kylo thought nervously.

 _Hell no,_ Rey said. _Not if it means getting thrown into something worse than this._

“Which way to the kitchen?” Kylo asked. “I, uh, want to check the menu for tonight’s dinner.” That was a plausible excuse, wasn’t it? 

The candle and the clocked eyed him suspiciously, but they gave them directions towards the kitchen. He felt a pang of relief from Rey that they could still get some food before moving on, which surprised Kylo. Surely she was used to running on very little food and sleep, just as he was?

 _Just because I’m used to it doesn’t mean I like it,_ she said. _When I left Jakku, I promised myself that I’d never be in that position again._ Despite himself, Kylo felt a pang of sadness. (But, he reminded himself, she didn’t deserve his sympathy. She just wanted to abandon him again.)

They walked to the kitchen in silence. Kylo felt oddly naked wandering around without shoes. They knew they were nearing the kitchen as soon as they started smelling something delicious, and he ignored Rey’s smirk when his stomach growled. “I don’t care how much of a rush we’re in to get home,” she said as they approached what had to be the kitchen doors, judging by the sounds of pots and pans coming from behind them. “We are eating before we do anything else.”

Kylo sighed. “Fine,” he said, trying to pretend that he didn’t feel any sort of pity for Rey’s childhood on Jakku.

Somehow, it made perfect sense that the kitchen was filled with anthropomorphic dishes, silverware, and cups. They were like a bunch of really weird droids. And, like many droids, they didn’t have the sentience to care that Rey and Kylo were sneaking in to search for something. Rey didn’t hesitate as she made a beeline for a counter that held a big bowl of something steaming. He watched, fascinated by the fact that Rey didn’t seem at all concerned by the fact that she was eating some sort of unknown dish and by the fact that she had exactly zero regard for table manners.

“I can hear you judging me,” she said between bites of food.

“Do you even know what you’re eating?” Kylo said as he walked over and leaned against the counter. 

“I know that it’s hot,” she said. “And I know that it’s food.”

Kylo sniffed the bowl, then decided that he was too hungry to care. The last time he’d eaten was...huh, the pizza in New York City. No wonder he was hungry. He looked around the kitchen, trying to find a bowl that wasn’t walking around (which was strangely difficult, to his discomfort). He finally found one, and spooned some of the vegetable dish into the bowl. Rey gave him a suspicious look, but he ignored her. He wanted to eat, too.

They ate in silence. Kylo was almost horrified at the way she practically managed to inhale the dish.

“I can still hear you judging me,” Rey said as she ate the last of the vegetables. 

“I’m not judging you.”

“Yes, you are,” she said. “You’re judging me because of the way I grew up. You think you’re better than me. Well, you know what? I--” She stopped talking as a teapot hopped onto the counter.

“What are you doing, eating in the kitchen?” it said in a suspiciously familiar female voice. “You’re supposed to be in the dining room.”

“We were hungry,” Rey said. “Sorry.”

The teapot tsked. “Well, next time, try to make it to the dining room before you dig in. The staff want you to feel right at home, dear.”

Rey blinked. The voice sounded familiar to her, too, Kylo realized. Oh kriff. It was--

“Oh, _hell_ no,” Kylo said, throwing the bowl against the wall. “I am not going to stand here and be lectured by a teapot that sounds like my kriffing _mother._ ” He turned to glare at Rey. “You want to stay here and relax? Fine. Do whatever you want. I’m too tired to deal with any more of this alternative universe bantha shit right now.” He stalked out of the kitchen, refusing to acknowledge Rey’s concerned look as he slammed the door behind him.

He stomped upstairs, wandering around until he found an empty bedroom. He locked the door behind him, took out his lightsaber, and went on a destructive rampage until he passed out on top of a pile of half-incinerated pillows.

 

* * *

 

 Rey cringed as she felt the brunt of Kylo’s fury before she had a chance to block it out. She had excused herself only a couple of minutes after he stormed out of the kitchen, needing to avoid interacting with any other talking dishes. She waited until he burned himself out, and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she felt him pass out.

Rey wandered through the castle, trying to get as far away from Kylo as possible. After traveling through four different universes together, she needed some space from him. This was even worse than the Force bond in some ways. At least she'd never had to work with him as her ticket home. 

She eventually found an unused bedroom that she decided to take for herself. This castle was so _eerie_. There were no other people, nor were there droids. Just talking furnishings and kitchenware, some of which sounded like her friends. She didn't blame Kylo for freaking out about a teapot with his mother's voice. She was also creeped out by it. But, like it or not, they were stuck there for the time being, and they were both too tired to do anything other than pass out and hope that things had magically improved by the time they woke up.

Rey dreamt of solving mysteries with her friends, with Finn inexplicably taking the shape of a dog and Poe wearing a purple dress. She half woke up at some point just before dawn, when the light was starting to creep in through the large windows in her room. There was someone lying on the mattress next to her, but she was too sleepy to think too hard about it until he whispered her name.

"Go away, Kylo," Rey muttered. She knew he wasn't actually there. She could feel the fuzzy sensation that she got when the Force bond connected them. "I don’t want to talk to you."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Whether he was apologizing for connecting them while she was asleep or for something else, she didn’t know.

"I don't care." She was so, so sick of getting dragged into his bullshit.

He sighed, but didn't say anything else, and she drifted back to sleep.

Rey woke up to the sound of someone tapping at the bedroom door. The sun was up, and the light coming in from the windows was brighter than she was expecting for a place that was cold enough to get snow. "Miss Rey," a voice called. "I've brought you breakfast." The mention of food had Rey bounding out of bed and whipping the door open to see a wheeled table being pushed by the same clock and candlestick that she'd talked to yesterday.

"Good morning, dear," said the candlestick as it (he?) pushed the tray into the bedroom. "Did you sleep well last night? I know that Master can be, well, difficult sometimes."

Rey snorted. 'Difficult' didn’t even begin to cover it. "What's for breakfast?" she asked, not wanting to discuss Kylo.

The clock and candlestick opened the covers on the trays, then excused themselves to let Rey eat breakfast alone. Rey was not in the habit of caring too much about what she ate, as long as it had the proper nutrition she needed, but this food was delicious. There was some sort of sweet dish with fruit, and a sandwich of egg and meat. There was a hot drink that warmed her up as she sat in the sunlight that was streaming in through the windows. _If I have to be stuck somewhere for a night_ , she thought. _This isn't a bad place to be._

She spent the next four days avoiding Kylo and searching for the holocron piece. The castle was so big that it was easy to avoid Kylo. Less easy? Blocking him out. She could sense his physical proximity using the Force, which allowed her to make sure she was always moving away from him if he tried to find her, but keeping his thoughts and feelings out was more difficult, especially in the dreamy space between sleeping and waking. She didn’t know if the nightly Force bond sessions had actually happened, or if she’d just dreamt them. Either way, she didn’t want to discuss them with Kylo. He was combing his half of the castle. She was combing hers. 

Finally, on the fifth day, they had to admit defeat. The creepy furniture creatures were plotting something that involved sticking her in an even bigger dress than the one she’d arrived in, and instead of spending her time avoiding Kylo, Rey was spending her time avoiding the furniture. No way were they going to put her in anything other than the least offensive dress and leggings she’d found in the wardrobe in her room. Besides, they only had one area left to search.

Kylo was leaning against the banister railing on the stairs up to the east wing as Rey entered the stairway leading up to it. “The furniture is after you, too?” he said by way of greeting. It was as if he hadn’t been having a breakdown the last time she’d seen him, and he gave no indication that he’d also been experiencing the half-dreamt Force bond sessions that she’d been having.

“It’s one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen,” she said as she walked up the stairs. “Stars, I hope we find the holocron piece here before the furniture kidnaps us and attacks us with fifty yards of fabric.” He didn’t react to that; he just followed her up the stairs in silence. 

This wing of the castle was significantly gloomier than the rest of it, Rey noted. The curtains were torn, and there was a portrait of a man that had been gouged out with what looked like claw marks. Rey wondered idly if this is what Kylo’s handiwork would look like if he wasn’t allowed to use a lightsaber. 

“I don’t destroy things like this,” Kylo growled. Rey jumped. He must have overheard that thought.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“You think I just destroy things without a second thought. I don’t.”

Rey refrained from rolling her eyes. “I’ve felt your rage,” she said. “You can’t lie to me. Stars, you must cost the First Order so much in replacement fees.”

His face reddened. “It’s not that bad,” he muttered. “Half the time I only do it to piss Hux off.”

Rey didn’t hold back from rolling her eyes this time. “Real mature, Kylo.”

“At least we have yet to hear Hux’s voice coming out of a piece of furniture,” he said. His tone was surly, but Rey could detect a hint of amusement. She wasn’t quite ready to drop the subject of Kylo’s destructive tantrums and how much they impacted _her_ , but she was willing to hold off on discussing it in favor of having a less surly Kylo to deal with. 

They made their way down to a room at the end of the corridor that was the gloomiest yet. Even in the middle of the day, the sun barely leaked in through the tattered curtains. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the furniture was in pieces all around the room. The only thing that was still intact was a small table that had something glowing sitting on it.

Rey and Kylo exchanged glances. “We found it,” he said. They took off for it, both determined to be the first one to find the piece. Somewhere along the way, it had turned into a competition (because of course it had), Rey realized.

They reached the table at the same time and knocked it over, sending the holocron piece and the glass jar it was in flying across the room. The glass shattered, and there was a brief, sickening moment where Rey thought that the holocron piece would shatter as well, but Kylo lept for it in a typically overdramatic fashion and pulled the piece off of the floor. 

“Got it,” he said, grinning up from the floor at Rey.

“Good,” she said, trying to hide her amusement at the sight of the Supreme Leader of the First Order sitting on the ground, covered in dust.

He stood up and pulled the holocron piece out of his pocket. “Are you ready to go?” he said. “You sure you don’t want to take some snacks for the road?” 

Rey smacked his shoulder. “Don’t be a dick,” she growled. She stuck her hand out, and they opened the holocron together. _Please bring us home this time, please bring us home this time, please bring us--_ There was a flash, and then everything went black.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

“Daddy?” a child’s voice called.

Kylo froze. _This can’t be good,_ he thought, suddenly hyperaware that there was another person in the bed with him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regretted writing this as soon as I started because then I had that song stuck in my head every single time I opened this chapter to work on it.
> 
> Backdoor one-line Scooby-Do AU: Rey and Finn are Scooby and Shaggy, Rose is Velma, Poe is Daphne, and BB-8 is Fred.


	8. Kira, Vela, Chertain, Heelit, and Alnilam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only thing scarier (read: fluffier) than Disney is reylo babies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An [anon on tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com/post/172553530440/for-ur-au-fic-an-au-where-rey-and-ben-are-happily) dropped a prompt along these lines in my inbox, and I already had this queued up! Not quite the same as your prompt, but I hope you enjoy it anyway ;)

A bed. That was something he hadn’t woken up on in a while. Kylo blinked, trying to figure out what noise had woken him up.

“Daddy?” a child’s voice called.

Kylo froze. _This can’t be good,_ he thought, suddenly hyperaware that there was another person in the bed with him.

“Mommy!” another child’s voice called. “Vela won’t let me play with the model spaceships.”

“Daddy, Chertain won’t leave me alone and play with his own toys,” the first child said.

_Kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff, KRIFF._

“‘Mommy’?” Rey muttered sleepily as she pushed herself up. She froze as she and Kylo made eye contact, and he felt her thoughts try to make sense of what she was seeing. “Oh, no,” she said as she closed her eyes. “No, no, no, no, _no._ Kriffing _hells_ , Kylo. What is this?”

“Mom? Dad?” an older child’s called from the hallway. “When are Uncle Finn and Uncle Poe coming over?” 

Kylo frowned. Uncle? Neither he nor Rey had any siblings. Did that mean that these kids weren’t actually theirs, if they were in a universe where they came from normal families? Because if so, that would make this considerably less weird.

He looked up at the two children in the doorway. Six-year-old twins, by the look of them. One boy and one girl. They had Kylo’s hair and Rey’s eyes, and the strength of the Force signature coming from the children in front of them--along with three more children elsewhere nearby--made it clear that they couldn’t be anything but Rey’s and Kylo’s kids.

_This is even more awkward and horrible than the singing_.

“They’re coming over later today,” Kylo said, hoping that the “uncles” weren’t about to burst into the house. “Uh, play nice, kids.”

The older child poked her head in the bedroom. “What time later today?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kylo said. “Ask C-3PO.” It was a gamble, but Kylo had a feeling that this was the type of universe where he and Rey would have inherited the Skywalker family droid.

Kriff. He probably also went by ‘Ben’ here.

The older child shrugged and said, “Okay. Come on, guys. Let’s go eat breakfast.” She took the twins, and they left the room, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door shut, Rey and Kylo were all but throwing themselves out of the bed to glare at each other from opposite sides of the room.

“Children?” she hissed at him. “Seriously, Kylo?”

“You say that like I have any control over where we end up!” he hissed back. “How many times do I have to tell you, _I fucked up_ and I have no more control over this Force spell than you do!” 

Neither of them said anything as they glared at each other. Rey looked different, Kylo realized. Older. Maybe about ten years older than she was now. Which meant that he… “Please don’t tell me that I have gray hair,” he gasped as his hands flew to his scalp.

Rey stared at him. “We’ve been thrown into a universe where we have _five kriffing children,_ and you’re concerned about your _hair_?”

“Panicking about the state of my hair is a little easier to manage than panicking about the fact that we have _children together_!” 

She grimaced. “For the record,” she said, “I would never, _ever_ want to have children with you. _Ever._ ”

Kylo felt a pang of hurt at that, but all he said was, “Oh yeah? I would never, _ever_ want to have children, period!” He was very happy to let the fucked-up Skywalker legacy die with him, even if it also ended the Organa, Solo, and Naberrie family lines. (Karking hell, no pressure, right? It made him jealous that Rey came from nowhere, even though her family history was equally as fucked.) Besides, he didn’t know what to do with a child. He’d barely known how to deal with children when he was a child. And he…

He didn’t know how to avoid making the same mistakes his parents had made with him. Which meant that he didn’t trust himself to not fuck-up a child.

Kylo saw a hint of something soft flicker in Rey’s eyes, and he wondered if she’d caught that thought from him. “So what now?” he said before she could comment on anything she’d accidentally picked up through the Force bond.

“We pretend to be parents and hope that we can pawn them off on Finn and Poe when they get here while we work our asses off to get out of here,” Rey said. 

“Why did the kids call them ‘uncle’?” Kylo asked as he moved to rummage through the closet for some clothing. (The fact that he and Rey had woken up in thin, lightweight sleep clothes had not escaped either of their notices, and he was trying to resist the urge to keep sneaking glances at Rey. _Stars, I can totally see her nipples through that shirt._ )

“I don’t know,” Rey said softly as she did the same. “I guess it’s because Finn and I…” She trailed off, and Kylo felt a pang of jealousy. Had she and the traitor been a thing? “Finn was the one who ran away from Jakku with me. I was the first person he met after deserting the First Order, and he was the reason I fell in with the Resistance. There’s a sort of bond there--not like our bond,” she said before Kylo could speak. “Finn’s not Force-sensitive. But he’s special to me in a way that no one else is. He’s the closest thing I have to family. Don’t turn around,” she added, suddenly changing the tone of her voice. “I need to change.”

Kylo felt his face heat up. “Fine,” he said gruffly, trying to think of literally anything except the fact that Rey was partially (mostly?) unclothed and in the same room as him. He busied himself by throwing on the first shirt he could find, not caring too much about the fact that it wasn’t in some shade of dark grey or black.

They dressed in silence, and a minute later, Rey said “You can turn around now.” When Kylo turned to look at her, he noticed that her face was a little pink. _She must just be embarrassed,_ he thought. There was no way she had also been thinking about the fact that they were doing something so... _oddly_ intimate. Was there?

They exchanged glares one more time before making their way out of the bedroom and into the main area of the house. Kylo wasn’t prepared for the sight of C-3PO acting domestic as he explained something to the older children. There were two toddlers sitting in the middle of the floor, playing with toys.

“I can’t believe there are five of them,” Rey murmured to Kylo.

“Me either,” he said as he cringed a little bit. In what universe could he possibly be comfortable having one child, let alone five?

“Mommy!” one of the toddlers said as he watched Rey walk slowly to the table in the middle of the kitchen.

“Yes?” she asked. If it weren’t for the bond they shared, Kylo might not even have noticed that Rey was nervous.

“I’m hungry!”

It was like they were the words to a magic spell. “Oh,” she said, looking around at the kitchen. “Of course. Food. Let’s eat.” She turned to go through the shelves in the kitchen, looking at all of the food. She paused and stepped back, visibly shaken.

“Mommy?” one of the kids said.

“Are you okay?” Kylo murmured, stepping forwards to--what? Hold her hand? _This domestic setting is already getting to me_ , he thought as he hastily pulled his hand back.

“It’s just--there’s so much of it," Rey whispered. “I’ve never seen so much food in one place in my life. And it’s _mine._ I don’t have to work for it.”

Kylo felt something tugging at the hem of his shirt, and he looked down to see one of the twins. “Is Mommy okay?” she asked.

“She’s just tired,” he said. “She needs caf.”

The twin smiled at him, and Kylo felt the start of a panic attack. What was he doing here? He wasn’t fit to be around children.

He felt a hand reach out to touch his, and his eyes snapped up to look at Rey. She was looking at him with an expression that matched the way Kylo felt. Out of every place they'd been so far, this was by far the safest. Which, to them, also meant the scariest. (Kylo refused to consider how messed-up _that_ was.)  
  
_Just breathe_ , she said to him. _One step at a time_.  
  
_This isn't even real!_  
  
_It's going to make our hunt for the holocron piece easier if we don't raise suspicion_ , she said. _We can just pawn them off on Finn and Poe when they get here._  
  
_With what excuse?_  
  
_Tell them you're throwing up._  
  
_Seriously?_  
  
"Mommy, what's for breakfast?" one of the toddlers said, interrupting Rey's and Kylo's silent exchange.  
  
"Uh, this," she said, pulling something onto the counter. Kylo vaguely recognized it as something he'd eaten when he was younger, but he'd spent the past ten years living off of energy bars and protein shakes. He'd rarely had an appetite for any food after he joined Snoke, and these days he ate only out of necessity.  
  
"Oh, my favorite!" the oldest child said with a smile. Rey was still doling out plates of the food when they heard a chime.  
  
"Uncle Finn and Uncle Poe!" one of the twins said as he ran to the door.  
  
Rey and Kylo exchanged glances. _Now's our chance_ , he said. _Think you can convince your friends to babysit?_  
  
Before Rey could reply, Dameron and the traitor (Kylo refused to think of him as anything but that) entered the room holding a bag and a wrapped package. "Happy anniversary!" the traitor said as he walked over to give Rey a hug.  
  
Wait. Anniversary?

* * *

  
Rey hated the universe the second from the second she had woken up next to Kylo. Her only consolation was that he was as miserable as she was, which was really petty, but she didn't care. It was awkward and horrible and heartbreaking to look at children knowing what kind of childhoods both she and Kylo had had.  
  
But she couldn't decide which was worse: the five happy, safe, well-fed children, or the fact that they were hosting a party to celebrate her and Kylo's kriffing nine-year _wedding anniversary_. (Apparently, they’d had a shotgun wedding six months before Kira was born.)  
  
More people that Rey vaguely recognized from the Resistance had shown up about an hour after Finn and Poe (who were early to help her and Kylo finish setting up, which was a nervewracking thing to pull off without raising suspicion).  She'd gleaned that they were together in this universe, which was a little surprising in that she'd have expected Finn and Rose to be married.  
  
She and Kylo barely had a second to talk, and the preparations for the party they were hosting (!!!) provided enough distraction that they were able to avoid each other. Neither of them was particularly good at hiding their emotions, and it was going to make the whole thing fall apart if people could see them interacting with each other. Besides, she was still mad at him for the hissyfit at the castle, and the singing before that, and the way he'd grabbed her in Varykino before that, and the Force-sensitive alien virus before that...Scratch that, she was still mad at him for everything.  
  
"When we heard that Ben Solo had left the First Order and disappeared, I couldn't believe what was happening," said Poe as he gave a toast. "When he reappeared months later to join the Resistance, it was simultaneously our worst nightmare and our salvation. But as soon as I saw these two together, I understood immediately," Poe added with a grin in Rey's direction. She forced herself to smile back at him, praying that it didn't look too much like a grimace.  
  
"These two have the sort of relationship that the rest of us can only dream of finding," Poe continued. "At first, we didn't understand it. We wrote it off as some weird Force thing." Some of the people in the room laughed, and Rey resisted the urge to look at Kylo. Poe wasn’t far off from the truth. Rey wondered if anyone here knew about the Force bond. She couldn't imagine herself ever sharing that information with someone, but then again, here she was married to Kylo and they had five kids together, so anything was possible in this universe.  
  
"Their wedding marked the start of a new era," Poe said. "And from the ashes of the war rose their unshakable bond, and their five wonderful children." There it was again, the mention of a bond. Did he know about it, or was it just coincidental phrasing?  
  
"And so, congratulations, Rey and Ben," Poe said as he raised a glass. "You two deserve all the happiness in the galaxy." Rey felt her face heat up and everyone clapped and turned to look at her and Kylo. She tried to project an aura of happiness in addition to the smile. That was something you could do with the Force, right?  
  
_I don't think the Force works like that,_  Kylo said silently.  
  
_Then shut up and hold my hand_ , Rey said as she grabbed his. _We need to make this look real so that they leave us alone._  
  
To her surprise, Kylo not only grabbed her hand, but leaned down to kiss her cheek. Rey turned to stare at him, and was surprised and how red his face was. Was this the same man who had grabbed her despite her protests to shut her up in Varykino? _Sorry_ , he said silently as he pasted a smile on his face.  
  
_It's okay_ , she said. Her cheek burned where his lips had touched it, and she knew that her face was as red as his. If this universe had any pity, it would make them the type of couple who didn’t engage in too much public displays of affection.  
  
With Poe's toast finished, they became aware of another problem: they didn’t know their own children’s names.

“How are Chertain and Vela doing in their new school?” someone asked Rey.

“They’re doing well,” she said, praying that it was the truth.

“I can’t believe your twins are old enough to start school!” someone else said.

Rey forced a laugh. “Me either,” she said. _Okay, so that’s two of them. Vela is the girl and Chertain is the boy._

“Before you know it, Heelit will be in school!” Heelit must have been one of the toddlers. Which one?

“And Kira will be in secondary school,” the first person said with a laugh. _Kira. Is she the oldest or the youngest?_

_Kira is the oldest, and Alnilam is the youngest,_ Kylo supplied.

_Who the kriff named these kids?_

_Well, clearly we didn’t name them after any of our relatives._

_That’s not funny._ Family was still off-topic.

“Are you going to teach them the ways of the Force?” someone asked in a hushed tone, as if the topic was taboo. 

“Of course we are,” Kylo said, butting into Rey’s conversation. She reached down and twined her fingers in his. _It’s just for show,_ she reminded herself as he gave it a gentle squeeze. _Just to convince these people that nothing is wrong. I am definitely not feeling oddly reassured by Ben--I mean, Kylo Ren’s touch._  

“Oh! So you’re going to make them students at your school?”

Rey and Kylo exchanged glances. _What school?_ she asked him. “Of course,” she said aloud.

_If we’re together in a post-war galaxy, it makes sense that we’d start a school for training Force-sensitives,_ Kylo said. _Not a new Jedi academy, though. Never a Jedi academy._

“I just think it’s so romantic,” a woman Rey didn’t recognize gushed. “You two managed to find each other and your love ended a war.”

“Did it?” Rey let slip. She’d been wondering how the war ended, but she hadn’t been able to find a subtle way to ask. She didn’t want to trigger anyone’s PTSD, especially since she was trying to act like nothing was wrong when, in fact, everything about this universe felt wrong. 

“Well, think about it,” the woman said. “Would Ben Solo have come home if he hadn’t been in love?”

Kylo and Rey froze. What could they possibly say to that? Kylo would never just abandon the First Order for her. She’d already tried that once, and she knew how it had ended.

Just as Rey was about to open her mouth to say that Ben Solo’s redemption had nothing to do with her and had to be entirely his own decision, Kylo said sharply “I did it because I wanted to. Not because Rey asked me to.” Rey blinked. She hadn’t expected _that_ answer from him. Did that mean he was starting to realize what he needed to do to save himself?

To give the woman credit, she did seem to realize that she’d overstepped, and she made some excuse about needing another drink and scurrying off.

Kylo muttered something about needing a break, and he disappeared, leaving Rey to wander around with a smile pasted on her face. What the hell was she supposed to do? She didn’t know how to interact with this many people. She barely knew how to interact with one friend at a time, let alone a whole house full of people she didn’t know. The fact that she could feel Kylo’s distress so powerfully only made her more anxious.

“Mommy?”

Rey looked down and saw one of the children--Heelit, she remembered--holding a small gift-wrapped box. “What is it?” she asked.

“I found a present,” Heelit said. “Can I open it?”

Rey nodded. “Sure.” She watched as the child opened the box, and nearly choked on air when she saw what was inside the box:

A holocron piece.

“Who is this from?” she said, grabbing the box from Heelit.

Heelit shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just found it. What is it?”

“It’s--” How was she supposed to explain the holocron piece to a child that was hers-but-not- _hers_?

“Is it a toy?”

“No,” she said firmly. “It’s a gift for your father and me.” By some miracle, Rey managed to keep herself from choking on the phrase ‘your father.’

Yeah, this was definitely the worst universe yet.

Heelit’s face fell, and Rey bit her lip. What was she supposed to do to comfort a child? She’d never had that when she was Heelit’s age. “Go get a piece of cake,” she said at random. Kids liked food, didn’t they? Even if they’d never starved a day in their life? Apparently, it was the right thing to say, because Heelit grinned and ran off. Rey let out a breath, and turned to go find Kylo. The faster they could leave, the better.

She reached out with the Force to look for Kylo. The fact that she could sense five other Force signatures that she was bonded to in a different way than she was bonded to Kylo nearly gave her a heart attack. She hadn’t even considered the fact that she’d automatically develop a bond with a being that had sat in her womb for nine months. It made her wonder what kind of bond Kylo had with Leia, and if it still existed. (That was at least one favor this universe had granted them. She and Kylo were barely hanging on as it was. There was no way he wouldn’t go supernova if Leia had appeared or even been mentioned in his presence.)

Rey shook her head, and walked off in Kylo’s direction. As much as she wanted to shut him out, they were both so overwhelmed by the effect this universe was having on them that they didn’t have the mental energy to shut each other out. She traced a path through their (ew) bedroom and onto a balcony off of the room that she hadn’t noticed earlier.

“I can’t do this,” Kylo said as Rey stepped out onto the balcony. “This is torture.”

She didn’t say anything as she held out the box to him. “What’s this?” he asked as he took it.

“The holocron piece,” she said.

“Kriffing _finally,_ ” he said as he tore the lid off the box. “Let’s go.”

Rey hesitated. “What is it?” Kylo asked, frowning. “You can’t possibly like this place any better than I do.”

“I can’t abandon the children,” she finally said.

The look on Kylo’s face softened. It made Rey feel even worse about the situation. “Rey,” he said softly. “They’re not your children. Not really.”

“But they think I’m their mother,” she said. “I can’t do that to them. I…”

“Rey,” Kylo said. “It’s not real. None of this is real.”

“But they _look_ real.” She felt a tear run down her cheek, and she brushed it away.

Kylo looked like he was at a loss for what to do. She knew that it was just as painful for him to stay as it was for her to leave. “You said that you would never want to have children with me,” he said. “If we leave and get back to our universe, you can have all the children you want with someone who isn’t me.” Rey could tell that he was barely able to choke out the words. She didn’t know if it was because the idea of having children with her was so horrendous, or the idea of having children, period. 

Either way, he had a point. As much as she didn’t want to abandon any children, she couldn’t stomach the idea of having children with Kylo. It brought up too many confusing feelings that she didn’t want to touch. Rey nodded, and Kylo let out the breath he had been holding. He pulled the holocron out of his pocket and held up the box with the holocron piece. “Let’s do this,” he said as they lowered the piece into the holocron. “I hate this starsdamned kriffing place.”

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

“BB-8,” Rey found herself saying. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kids’ full names and ages, if you’re curious: Kira Organa Solo (8, f), Vela Naberrie Solo (6, f), Chertain Skywalker Solo (6, m), Heelit Kenobi Solo (4, f), Alnilam Chewbacca Solo (3, m). The names were mostly generated from http://starwars.namegeneratorfun.com because I can’t come up with names for shit and wanted the family names to be the kids’ middle names and yes, I’m pulling in Kenobi to be considered a family name for Ben - Obi-wan trained Anakin and Luke, and Luke trained Ben and (to some degree) Rey, which sort of makes him family. (Canon Kylo and Rey don't know their full names, hence Kylo's "not family names" comment.)
> 
> Realtalk, if you’re wondering why Leia isn’t mentioned by anyone but Rey’s thoughts here, here’s the short version: Kylo/Ben’s trauma here around his family (and what that would probably mean for him if he had children) absolutely breaks my heart and having Leia appear was going to be too difficult to play for laughs. I’m writing this fic as a way to blow off steam from and humor is my coping mechanism, which is why I’m going for crackfic and not angst. (As it is, this was a little difficult to write. It’s the angstiest chapter I’ve written yet, and might be the angstiest chapter of this entire story. I swear I meant it to be full crack when I planned it!) If you’d like to chat about it, hit me up on [tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com/tagged/down-the-au-rabbit-hole) \- I’m interested to know how other people see this.
> 
>  
> 
> Aaaaanyway, back to your regularly scheduled crack on Thursday!


	9. Follow the yellow kyber crystal road (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t Kansas, nor is it Rey and Kylo’s universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kudos and comments! You guys are wonderful :) I'm a little hopped up on caffeine today, so this is going up a bit earlier than normal. Enjoy!
> 
> Full disclosure, it's been about twenty years since I last watched "The Wizard of Oz," so there is pretty liberal adaptation going on here. And as always, this is unbeta'd, so please feel free to point out any glaring SW inaccuracies.

Rey lost track of the number of universes she and Kylo went through. Some of them were easier than others, like the universes that resembled another version of the one with New York City. The hardest, though, were the ones that were an alternate version of her and Kylo’s own timeline. She couldn’t believe that she’d ever turn into a darkside version of herself, and she could feel Kylo’s heartbreak reflected in her whenever they saw a version of him where he hadn’t gone to Snoke.

But then they came to a truly strange one. This time, when Rey woke up, she was lying alone on a bed in a messy room. There was a familiar beeping coming from the floor, and she jumped out of bed. “BB-8?” she said, unable to keep a delighted smile off of your face. “You’re here! How are you here? There’s no way I made it back home, is there?”

BB-8 answered in a series of beeps and chirps, but it wasn’t the same language Rey was used to hearing. She frowned. Was it possible that she’d somehow lost her ability to understand droidspeak with all the universe jumping? No, that was impossible. She still remembered how to speak Basic. Linguistic ability wasn't something that an alternative universe could take away from her.

So why couldn't she understand BB-8? Could BB-8 understand _her_?

"Hey, buddy," she said. BB-8 looked at her, but didn't respond. _Maybe it can't understand me, either_. Rey was crushed to realize that she thought she had found a friend, but it was once again a trick of this stupid Force spell. At least Kylo wasn't around to piss her off, she realized. He'd show up soon, though. If they woke up in separate places after a jump, it was never long before they found each other. At least it gave her the opportunity to take a break from him.

"Let's go see what's outside, shall we?" she said to BB-8. She grabbed her lightsaber out of a basket that was sitting on the bed, and then opened the front door, BB-8 rolling quietly behind her.

Rey opened the door, gasped, then closed it again. _What the hell is wrong with the colors?_ she thought. Everything in the house was in shades of gray, even the clothes she was wearing (a short dress and flimsy shoes? Really?). Even BB-8 only appeared to be white and grey. But when she opened the door, it was like all of the color came back into existence. As soon as she stepped past the threshold, she was colorful again (it turned out the dress was blue, and she was wearing sparkly red shoes). "BB-8," she found herself saying as she closed the door behind her. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." She blinked. Kansas? Where was Kansas? It wasn't any planet or system she knew of, although that wasn't saying much given how many planets and systems there were in the galaxy. Although at this point, why was she still bothering to consider that any location she talked about was a real place in her galaxy?

The world outside was saturated in color. There were some small houses, but none of them looked like the one she'd woken up in. She turned around to get a better look, and jumped. There was a pair of fins sticking out as if the house had landed on something. Rey whipped her head around. _What should I do?_ she wondered. She didn't get any sort of life signature out of the body, and if something had died, then it wasn't her fault...was it?

She was saved by having to think any further about those questions by the sudden appearance of someone she’d never expected to see again. "Luke?" she said, unable to believe her eyes.

It was Luke, but it also...wasn't. He was wearing a peaceful expression that Rey had never seen on his face before. He definitely wasn't looking at her like she failed for not having brought Ben Solo back, which is what she would have expected from Luke if she hadn't felt him pass into the Force after Crait.

Also, the Luke she’d met didn’t have pink wings.

"Hello," he said, smiling at her. It was a little unnerving to see him looking so carefree. "Welcome to Oz."

 

* * *

 

Kylo woke up in a basket being held up by a giant balloon. He pushed himself up from the bottom of the basket and nearly fell over again when he looked over the side of it and realized how high up he was. He cursed as he sunk back to the floor. 

It wasn't that Kylo was afraid of heights. Far from it. He loved flying, and he spent far too much time in space to be bothered by a stupid thing like heights. But it was one thing to be miles above the ground safely in a TIE fighter, and another to be miles above the ground in a little basket.

(However, as much as he hated being in the stupidest form of transport he’d ever seen, he took a second to thank whatever power that was propelling them through universes that they hadn’t ended up in another alternative timeline of his and Rey’s own lives. He didn’t think he could stomach another one where his parents hadn’t abandoned him or his uncle hadn’t tried to kill him.)

Luckily, he appeared to be nearing something that Kylo assumed was his destination. As he grew closer, he realized that it was some sort of primitive city. More primitive than New York City, but less primitive than Endor. That could potentially be a challenge. But he wasn't going to worry about that just yet; the level of civilization of this place wasn't going to mean anything if he died trying to land this stupid balloon. Trying to land a balloon-and-basket transport was considerably more difficult than trying to land a TIE fighter (or, hell, even that metal death trap that had been his father's ship). He'd have thought that the lack of complex controls would make it easier, but he had to figure out through fast trial-and-error how much heat he needed to blow up into the balloon to keep from crashing out of the sky.

"This is the dumbest kriffing transport," Kylo said as he landed unsteadily on a field a little ways away from the green city. He figured that storming in was probably not the wisest decision, given that he knew absolutely nothing about this place, and Rey--

Wait a minute. Where was Rey?

Kylo closed his eyes and tried to sense her somewhere nearby. _This is fine_ , he thought when he failed to find her. They always found each other pretty quickly when they woke up separately. She couldn't have completely abandoned him. Could she? Even though they'd spent as much time as possible avoiding each other after the horrible universe with the kids, the thought that they might be separated permanently was enough to give him a panic attack. Kylo forced himself to stand still and breathe slowly until his heart rate slowed. _What a stupid thing to panic about_ , he told himself. _Shouldn't you be used to people leaving you by now? It's not like you don't know exactly how Rey feels about you._

So fine. No Rey yet. If he didn't find her within the next hour, he'd try to find her through the Force bond. He didn't want to go that far, not when his thoughts were already so scattered thanks to the panic attack. Besides, he could figure this out without her. And hey, maybe he'd beat her to the holocron piece again. Kylo was so busy fantasizing about what he would say to Rey when she finally showed up only to find him already holding the holocron piece in his hand that he didn't notice the approach of a bunch of winged stormtroopers.

 

* * *

 

Talking to Luke Skywalker and being surrounded by porgs again almost made Rey feel homesick for Ahch-To.

“The porgs want to know if you’re a lightsider or a darksider,” Luke said as he knelt down to pick one up.

“Excuse me?” said Rey. “The _porgs_ want to know?”

Luke nodded calmly. “Yes. The porgs also want to know why you’ve dropped a house on top of their Supreme Thala-Siren. They’re very grateful. They were fed up with green milk.”

Rey was sick of going through this in every new universe. So for once, she decided to play along. “I am committed to porg conservation,” she said. “Sure, they completely infested the Millenium Falcon and by now have probably infested everywhere the Falcon’s landed, but they’re too cute to let die.”

“And your affiliation with the Force?”

“Definitely light,” Rey said firmly.

Luke gave her a piercing look, and Rey nearly let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t question her further.

“What are you doing in Oz?”

“I’m looking for a way home.” This, at least, was true.

Luke just nodded, and looked down at the porgs that were crowding around his feet. “In exchange for giving us a break from green milk, I think we can help you,” he said to Rey.

“Oh,” said Rey. “Good.”

“You need to journey east, to Emerald City,” said Luke. “There, you will find a wizard who can help you.”

“What’s a wizard?” Rey asked.

“He’s a powerful being who holds the key to bringing you home, young Jedi.”

_The key! He must mean the holocron piece._ “How do I find him?” she asked in a rush.

“Follow the yellow kyber crystal road,” Luke said, sweeping his arm out to show Rey a road that she hadn’t noticed before.

“How far is it?” she asked, peering down the path. It seemed like a terrible idea to have a long road made of kyber crystals.

“Just follow the yellow kyber crystal road, and you’ll arrive.” Luke gave her another one of those unnervingly carefree smiles. “That’s all you need to do.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me,” she said under her breath. Louder, she said, “That’s it? I just walk until I run into this wizard?”

“Follow the yellow kyber crystal road,” Luke said for a third time. The porgs chirped in agreement. Rey sighed, then stepped onto the path. She half expected something to explode when she did so, but nothing happened. There was a slight hum she felt from walking on kyber crystals, but it didn’t feel dangerous. Just strange. And a complete waste of kyber crystals.

“Thanks, I guess,” she said as she turned back to look at Luke and the porgs one last time. She felt a pang in her chest as she realized that this might be her last chance to talk to Luke. She still had so many questions about being a Jedi and the Force. Not to mention all of the things she had to say about what had happened with Kylo, and how she and Leia had both felt his passing after the battle of Crait.

But then again...this wasn’t Luke. Not really. And talking to him would probably do about as much good as talking to the porgs.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Luke said as Rey walked away. “Don’t lose your shoes.” Rey looked down and really looked at her shoes. They were made of some sort of red, sparkly material, and they were probably going to give her the worst blisters of her entire life if she had to walk all the way to the next city. “They’ll protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” Rey asked. But when she turned around, Luke was gone, leaving porgs plodding around their little town. “Well, that was kriffing useless,” she muttered as she turned back and walked down the path. _At least I haven’t had to deal with Kylo yet._ Silver linings.

She followed the path as it wandered away from the porg town and through fields of tall plants that she didn’t recognize. The landscape was mildly interesting, but she was too focused on getting to Emerald City so that she could find this wizard person to care much about the view around her. Besides, hadn’t Luke told her to stick to the path? Rey wasn’t feeling stupid enough to disregard Luke’s travel advice to go exploring.

About an hour after Rey left Luke and the porg village, she felt that strange sensation that always preceded a Force bond session. “Oh, kriff,” Rey said as she closed her eyes and sighed. She had been hoping that it would take him longer to appear.

Or rather, try to appear. She pushed back, trying as hard as she could to keep him out. She didn’t want to talk to Kylo until she talked to this wizard person, just in case the wizard had answers that Kylo or the holocron didn’t. “Not today, Kylo,” she said as she felt the connection burn out. She caught a whiff of relief from his end of the bond. Relief? Was he...had he been _worried_ that she had gotten into trouble? _Idiot,_ she thought. He’s _the one who keeps getting us into trouble._

“Kylo?” a voice said. “That’s not my name.”

Rey jumped, then looked around. All she could see were tall plants and the yellow kyber crystal road stretching ahead of her. “Hello?” she said. She knew she'd been losing it since arriving on Kolb, but hearing voices was a completely new one.

"To your left," the voice said. Rey whipped around. All she could see was more plants. And... "Up here," the voice said as Rey's eyes landed on a humanoid creature that appeared to be stuffed with plant matter.

"What are you?" Rey asked.

"I'm a scarecrow," it said as it hopped off of its stand.

Rey realized that it had a very familiar set of features. "Poe?" she asked. She looked down at BB-8, who had been rolling along behind her, only letting out the occasional beep. Given that this BB-8 wasn't _really_ BB-8, she didn't know if it would respond to Poe the same way. But as scarecrow-Poe walked towards them, the droid began to spin around excitedly. _So you_ do _remember Poe_ , Rey thought with a smile.

"What's a Poe?" the scarecrow asked.

"It's your name," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Well, if I forgot my name, that would make a lot of sense. I don't have a brain, you see."

_Play along, Rey_. "Oh, really?" she asked, fighting to keep from rolling her eyes.

"If I only had a brain," scarecrow-Poe said with a sigh. "That's all I really want--oh, hello there," he said, kneeling down to talk to BB-8. "Who are you? You're very friendly."

"That's BB-8," Rey said. "You don't recognize it?"

Poe frowned. "I don't know," he said. "But, if I only had a brain, maybe I would."

"Sure," said Rey. "Listen, I'm on my way to go see someone called the Wizard of Oz. Have you ever heard of him?"

Poe jumped up. "Heard of him? No. Can he help me get a brain?"

"I don't know," said Rey. "I've never met a wizard before." If this was Poe, he was probably supposed to join her, right? That was how these stories seemed to play out. If she found one of her friends in the universe, they were probably there for a reason. "You should join me."

"Join you? Are you sure that's okay? I'll probably hold you back, you know. I don't have a--"

"Brain, yes, you've said." She smiled at him and held out a hand. "Come on. Someone told me that I just have to follow this yellow kyber crystal road, and I'll eventually find this wizard."

"Okay!" Poe said, taking her hand with a smile.

  

* * *

 

Kylo wasn’t surprised when Hux showed up shortly after the flying stormtroopers did.

“Wizard,” Hux said by way of greeting.

“Hux,” Kylo said. He was getting really sick of seeing Hux everywhere he went. (However, better Hux than Snoke…)

“Hux?” he said. “No. The Wicked Witch of the West.”

Kylo blinked. “What’s a witch?” he asked. Maybe that explained the thin black robes that Hux was wearing. Kylo was used to seeing Hux in black. He wasn’t used to seeing him in something that didn’t bother to disguise how skinny he was.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Hux said. “Look, I’m here because we both want the same thing.”

“We do?” Kylo asked suspiciously.

“We want that damn girl who stole my sister’s ruby slippers,” Hux seethed.

“I’m sorry, _what_?”

“You know who I’m talking about. She comes from the same far-off land as you.” _Rey,_ Kylo thought. So she had made it there after all. “She possesses a magical power, and I can’t take the shoes back from her. Someone else put a protective spell on them.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Kylo asked, trying to figure out how to get Rey to come to him without letting Hux get to her.

“The slippers possess a great power. Think about it,” said Hux with a grin. “You get one, and I get one. Together, we will be unstoppable, and all of Oz will be ours!”

Kylo had no idea what the hell he would do with a shoe, but if Hux wanted them, Kylo needed to keep them away from him. Not because of their power so much as the fact that Kylo just didn’t want Hux to get something the ginger bastard was after.

“Okay,” he said. “What do we have to do?”

 

* * *

 

Rey was unsurprised when they came across another one of her friends an hour later.

The landscape had shifted from the fields of tall plants to groves of trees that bore some sort of round red fruit. Rey wasn't dumb enough to pick up a strange fruit in a strange universe without knowing what it was, but she couldn't help herself from taking a closer look. It smelled really good, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was safe to eat.

"Don't touch it," a creaky voice said from somewhere nearby. Rey looked in the direction the voice came from and saw a metal humanoid that didn't look like any droid she'd ever seen before. It looked too organic to be an actual droid, which was creepy, even if it was probably a normal thing in this universe.

"Don't touch what?" Rey said.

"The apple," the not-droid said. "Don't touch it. The trees will insult you."

"Of course they will," Rey muttered under her breath. "And who are you?"

"Hand me that oil can and I'll tell you," it said, pointing at a can just out of its reach.

Rey oiled the not-droid's joints until it--she, Rey realized--was doing a little happy dance. Now that the not-droid was nimble enough to move, Rey realized who it was. "Rose?" she asked.

Rose thought about it. "I'm the tin man," she said, "but you can call me Rose if you want."

"Tin man? Not a droid?"

"What's a droid?" scarecrow-Poe said as he peered at tinman-Rose over Rey's shoulder, BB-8 following quietly.

"I'm not a droid, whatever that is," said tinman-Rose. "Droids probably have hearts. I don't."

"Droids definitely don't have hearts," Rey said quickly. "But sure, you're not a droid. Why are you crying? _How_ are you crying?"

"I don't have a heart, and I want one so badly," tinman-Rose said, lubricant leaking out of her eyes in some strange semblance of tears.

"I don't have a brain, and I want one so badly," scarecrow-Poe said reassuringly. "Rey here says that she knows a wizard who can help me get a brain. Maybe he can get you a heart, too!"

"You really think so?" tinman-Rose said, a hopeful smile forming on her face.

"Yes," said Rey, playing along. Maybe if she had Rose here along with Poe, they would start to act a little more normal and a little less like they were parroting the same phrases over and over again. Rey thought it was strange that Rose's role here lacked a heart, given that Rose had the biggest heart of anyone Rey had ever met. But then again, Poe wasn't actually brainless, so maybe it was all a metaphor for something Rey was missing.

"Can I come with you and ask this wizard for a heart?" tinman-Rose asked.

"Yes," Rey said as scarecrow-Poe said "Of course!" And that was that.

After the third hour of walking, they finally came across the missing member of Rey's friends in the Resistance. They’d progressed from the grove of trees to a full-fledged forest. At some point, scarecrow-Poe and tinman-Rose had begun chanting something about animals, which was about as alarming as it was annoying. Rey figured that if there were any native predators in the forest, the local versions of her friends would know better than she would. She had _not_ made it all the way out here just to get eaten by a lion, a tiger, or a bear (oh my!).

“Do you hear something?” tinman-Rose said.

Rey, scarecrow-Poe, and BB-8 all stopped and listened to the sounds of the forest around them. Rey tried to reach out and sense with the Force as well, but everything was hazy and she couldn’t pick out the difference in life signatures to know what was harmless and what wanted to attack (or eat) them.

“I don’t hear anything,” scarecrow-Poe said. BB-8 chirped in agreement.

“Neither do--” Rey yelped as something tackled her from behind, and she quickly maneuvered so that she flipped her attacker and had him pinned on the ground before anyone else could even react.

“No wait, please, don’t--” he babbled as Rey squinted at him. He was some sort of humanoid feline who almost looked vaguely familiar. _Wait a minute,_ Rey thought. If the scarecrow was Poe and the tin man was Rose, then this had to be…

”Finn?” Rey said as she stood up and held out a hand to help him up.

“What’s a Finn?” he asked. “I’m just a lion. A stupid, cowardly lion.”

_Play along, Rey_ she reminded herself again. “You’re not cowardly. I know you, Finn. You’re not a coward.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, sniffling. “I just want to be brave so badly!”

_This again,_ Rey thought. “Well, if you want to join us, he’s looking for a brain, she’s looking for a heart, and I’m looking for a way to get the kriff out of here.”

Lion-Finn blinked through his tears. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Positive,” Rey said. Scarecrow-Poe, tinman-Rose, and BB-8 agreed enthusiastically. (Well, Rey assumed that BB-8 agreed. It was still weird that she couldn’t understand it.)

“We’re off to see the wizard,” scarecrow-Poe said.

“The wonderful wizard of Oz!” added tinman-Rose.

Rey just rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she grumbled. “Let’s--”

“Follow the yellow kyber crystal road!” lion-Finn, tinman-Rose, and scarecrow-Poe chanted together.

 

* * *

 

The road to Oz was long, and there were no speeders of any sort to help transport them. On top of that, she had to put up with lion-Finn, tinman-Rose, and scarecrow-Poe chattering about the things they wanted from the wizard and why they wanted them. It made her lonelier than ever to have her friends with her and not being able to really _talk_ to them. 

Rey lost track of how long they walked for. They stopped to sleep in a field of poppies at some point, which was a weird place to sleep, but none of them had been able to stay awake any longer. Rey had the distinct impression that Luke was hanging around there somewhere, but she didn’t see or hear him at all. She also had the distinct impression that they’d been asleep for an abnormal amount of time but without a chrono of any sort, she had no way to measure that.

Finally, they spotted a large green wall in the distance. As they neared it, they could see the tops of houses peeking up over the wall.

“I think that’s Oz,” tinman-Rose said happily.

“I wish _I_ could think,” scarecrow-Poe muttered sadly.

“Do you think that it’s a dangerous place?” lion-Finn asked nervously.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Rey said. “Thank the Force we’re almost there.”

The yellow kyber crystal road ended in front of a pair of tall doors. “Do we knock?” Rey asked.

“Probably,” tinman-Rose said. “I’ve never been here before.”

“I’ve never seen a place like this,” Rey murmured as she pounded on the door, hoping that someone was nearby to let them in.

A window that Rey hadn’t noticed before slid open, and a man that Rey didn’t recognize peeked out at her. “Who are you?” he asked.

“We’re here to see the wizard,” Rey said, praying that tinman-Rose, scarecrow-Poe, and lion-Finn weren’t going to break out in song again at those words.

“Why should I let you in?” the doorman said.

“We’ve come a long way to ask the wizard for help,” scarecrow-Poe said. Lion-Finn huddled behind him, trying and failing to look like he wasn’t scared.

The doorman gave them a suspicious look, and Rey held her breath. What if he said no? Could she Jedi mind trick him into letting them in? She still wasn’t very good at that; she was afraid to practice on anyone in the Resistance in case it made them afraid of her power.

“Okay,” the doorman finally said with a nod. Rey let out her breath. Good. She wasn’t going to need to rely on a Force trick that she hadn’t quite mastered. The window shut, and a moment later, the doors started to open slowly. Rey, tinman-Rose, scarecrow-Poe, and lion-Finn stepped through cautiously into a city square that was filled with people watching them enter the city.

“Welcome to Oz,” the doorman said, beaming. All of the townspeople burst into song. _For kriff’s sake,_ Rey thought as she fought to keep a polite smile on her face. _Not this again._

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

There was smoke spilling out of the room as they entered, and Rey dropped Rose’s hand to wave some of it out of her face. _Seriously?_ she thought as she walked further into the room and towards the tall figure in black. _What kind of drama queen--Oh._ “Are you _kriffing_ kidding me right now?” Rey yelled as she realized who the “wonderful wizard of Oz” actually was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s a [Thala-siren](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Thala-siren), you ask? It’s the name of the big green milk titty creature on Ahch-To. 
> 
> If you’re wondering about the other universes they went through...nothing major to advance the plot or their character development there, so I’ve left them alone for now. I plan on writing some "deleted scenes" for this later on, but I'll never get through this fic if I keep giving in to the impulse to add chapters that I didn't originally plan. Feel free to leave me any suggestions either here or on [tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com) :)


	10. Follow the yellow kyber crystal road (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things do not go smoothly at the end of the yellow kyber crystal road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you hear this from every author ever, but thank you so so much for all of your comments and kudos! It really does mean a lot to hear that you guys are enjoying this, especially when some variation of "this is fucking whack why am I even posting this" runs through my head every time I post a new chapter.
> 
> Also, in case you missed it, I've set this up as a series. There are a lot of AUs that haven't been and won't be included in this main story (there _is_ a plot and these AUs do go in a specific order), but I don't want to completely abandon them. The plan is to add them as "deleted scenes," with the implication that Rey and Kylo go through many more AUs than this fic contains. They might not go up until after this is finished, but if you're interested, do keep an eye out for them :)

Kylo was equal parts worried and annoyed at the way Rey had blocked him out so effectively. It was as strong as it had been in the months between Crait and Kolb. He wasn’t particularly eager to talk to her, but he did need to know that she was alive and in the same universe as him. How would either of them get home if they were permanently separated?

Until he found a way to contact Rey, Kylo figured his best bet was to keep an eye on Hux and play along in his role as the wizard. It was easy to convince the townspeople of his power using a few basic Force tricks, and they mostly left him alone when they realized how much he hated them. The fact that his old helmet and cape were in the basket he’d flown in on helped; he’d almost forgotten how much more terrifying he was in a mask. He was enjoying the use of smoke and special effects to terrify people far too much.

“I’ve trapped the girl and her companions,” Hux said as he materialized without warning in Kylo’s throne hall (Kylo refused to use the words “throne room”) a couple of days after he had arrived in Oz. He mainly communicated by crystal ball. He didn’t have Force powers, but he was able to work some sort of in-universe magic that allowed him to materialize in a puff of green smoke, which was nearly as annoying as the swarm of flying stormtroopers he liked to travel with.

“Oh?” said Kylo, thinking fast. He’d counted on being able to locate them first because of his bond with Rey. He hadn’t considered the fact that this version of Hux, with his unimposing clothing, would actually be competent enough to do his job. 

“There’s a field of poppies that, when manipulated, have a soporific effect on those who enter it,” Hux explained. “I’ve trapped them there. Now we need to prepare for phase two: kidnap the girl and break the spell on her shoes.”

Kylo had kidnapped Rey once before. He could do it again. Sure, it was much easier when she was willing to come to him, but he’d blown that chance already, and she was unlikely to offer it again. “I can do that,” he said firmly.

“Excellent,” said Hux. “My spies told me she was on her way here, and it was easy to manipulate the yellow kyber crystal road to run through the poppies. Her companions mean nothing and will provide us no trouble. I trust that you can dispose of them.”

Kylo nodded. “It won’t be a problem,” he said. He could easily get rid of anyone Rey was traveling with.

Except it hadn’t been that easy, because a day later Hux popped back into Kylo’s throne hall, interrupting his attempt to break through Rey’s block with a deep meditation.

“What now?” Kylo asked, grouchy that he had been interrupted. He’d been close. He’d felt it.

“I, uh,” said Hux, not meeting Kylo’s eyes. “They escaped the field.”

Kylo didn’t hold back his groan. He _knew_ that Hux was too incompetent to do anything right.

“The good news is, they’re almost here,” Hux said.

“So what now?” asked Kylo. “Are you going to interrupt _my_ plans to do the job?”

“No, Wizard,” Hux said. “I’m going to retreat to my castle. Contact me as soon as you have the girl in your clutches. We can prepare the spell to remove her shoes then.” With that, Hux vanished in a puff of green smoke. Kylo waved a hand, trying to dispel it. It wouldn’t do to have Hux’s smoke effects overpowering his.

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe we’re almost there,” Rey said with a smile. They’d managed to dodge the worst of the singing townspeople, but they had been shooed into a building called “Wash & Brush Up Co.” They’d been split up and brought to separate rooms, despite Rey’s protests, but she stopped as soon as she realized that no harm was coming to them. All the townspeople were doing was giving them all makeovers, and Rey could use a shower. Besides, they were so close to the wizard that Rey didn’t see the point in taking a little extra time to get cleaned up. 

They used a magical machine that somehow washed Rey and her clothes without having to remove them (which solved the problem of “how to keep these shoes safe while in the shower”), and then they sat her down in a chair to do her makeup and her hair. She had been less attached to the three bun style ever since she learned the truth about her parents (which was still a painful topic), but it was still strange to have someone else arrange her hair and put a big bow in it that matched the dress. They put some cosmetics on her face as well, and Rey had to resist the urge to ask the stylists to show her what they were doing so that she could do it to herself later. Not that she’d had much use for cosmetics in the past, but it was always a nice skill to know, especially when stepping through the shoes of so many different Reys in so many different universes.

BB-8 rolled around Rey’s chair the entire time, getting in the way of the stylists, who thought it was cute. “Is that your pet?” one of them asked as he leaned down to coo at the droid. “She’s adorable!”

Rey wouldn’t go so far as to call BB-8 _her_ anything, since it belonged to Poe, but she smiled and nodded at the stylist. “Yeah,” she said. “Exactly. It’s my pet.”

As they worked on her hair, Rey could hear other people in the room whispering about her and her friends. “Do you think they’re serious?” someone said. “You know how scary the wizard is.”

“They must be unusually brave,” someone whispered back. “Either that, or they have some sort of magic to combat his.”

“I doubt it,” a third person whispered. “No one is powerful enough to match the wizard.”

Rey resisted the urge to snort. _We’ll see about that,_ she thought. She wasn’t exactly without power herself. And if Kylo showed up…

She hadn’t thought much about Kylo since he tried to contact her over the Force after she first arrived in Oz. At this point, holding the connection between them closed had become an automatic process that was going on in the back of her mind. She knew that she’d eventually have to find him in order to leave--after all, he still had the holocron--but she didn’t want to face him until she found the piece. But as tangled as her feelings were about Kylo (and all the time spent in alternate versions of their own lives had only tangled them even further), she knew that if she got into a fight with someone, he’d be on her side, if only so that he could fight her himself later on.

With one last swipe of a makeup brush, the stylists shoed Rey out into a hallway where scarecrow-Poe, tinman-Rose, and lion-Finn were waiting. They all looked fresher and cleaner, and Rey figured that they must have had whatever their in-universe species’ versions of a makeover were. (Lion-Finn was wearing a blue bow in his hair, and Rey couldn’t hold back a smile at the sight of it.)

“Are you ready to see the wizard?” she said to her friends.

They nodded, although lion-Finn was already shaking in fear. Rey reached out to hold his hand, and scarecrow-Poe held Finn’s other hand. Tinman-Rose moved next to Rey to hold her other hand, and they walked towards the giant doors, which opened slowly as they approached. Rey could see smoke coming from the room, but she didn’t sense any danger. As long as there was no more singing, she could deal with it.

There was smoke spilling out of the room as they entered, and Rey dropped Rose’s hand to wave some of it out of her face. _Seriously?_ she thought as she walked further into the room and towards the tall figure in black. _What kind of drama queen--Oh._ “Are you _kriffing_ kidding me right now?” Rey yelled as she realized who the “wonderful wizard of Oz” actually was.

 

* * *

 

Kylo felt his heart pound as Rey and her companions neared the throne hall. He still couldn’t sense Rey in the Force (which almost made him a little pleased that her control was good enough to block him out so effectively), but he knew that she and her companions were heading towards the throne room. He ran to double-check the smoke machine (still running, check), then he checked his reflection in the mirror (helmet and cape on straight, check), then he sat down in the throne in the most intimidating posture he knew (scare Rey and her companions, check).

But the last part hadn't gone as well as Kylo had hoped it would. He figured that since he couldn't sense Rey, then she wouldn't be able to sense him, which meant that he could surprise her. So he wasn't prepared to be greeted with "Are you kriffing kidding me right now?"

_It's the mask_ , his inner voice said. _The mask was too much. Chicks don't dig guys in big masks._

"Rey," he said as he sauntered over to where she and her companions were standing. (Good lord, was that _Dameron_ dressed as a scarecrow?) "So glad you could make it."

She turned up to the ceiling and shouted "Not helpful, Luke!" Kylo frowned. Luke? Why was she yelling at his dead uncle? She turned back to glare at Kylo. "Do you have the piece yet?" she asked.

Kylo shook his head. "I've been stuck here," he said.

"Oh, so _I_ have to do all the work?" Rey shot back.

_For kriff's sake. Tell me why I wanted to find her again?_ "If you can find the piece, fine by me," he said. "But you're never getting out of here without me."

Rey huffed and glared at him. Two of her companions whispered, and she turned to shush them. "Come on, guys," she said. "Let's get out of here. This is a waste of time." Kylo heard one of them say something about a heart, but her protests died on her tongue as she caught the look on Rey's face. "Don't talk to me unless you find the holocron piece," she said to Kylo as she all but shoved her friends out of the throne hall.

Kylo huffed. This was not how he had planned this meeting. He had been picturing himself dangling the holocron in front of Rey to remind her that she couldn't just ditch him, but now that she had come and gone, Kylo couldn't help but feel like he wished that things had gone a little differently. A little more civil. He was getting tired of fighting all the time.

But he didn't chase after her. He was too proud to face her again unless he found the holocron piece. And since it didn't appear to be anywhere in Emerald City, he'd have to do a little investigating. "Hux!" he shouted up at the ceiling. "I know you've got spies somewhere who are listening. Come here. We need to talk." When nothing happened, Kylo sighed and flopped down on the throne. _Well, shit. There goes that plan._

To his surprise though, Hux appeared in a puff of green smoke about half an hour later. "Wizard," he said by way of greeting. (Kylo hadn't been able to persuade Hux to call him anything else.)

"Do you have the holocron piece?" he asked before Hux could speak.

Hux frowned. "The what?"

"The holocron piece."

"All I want are the ruby slippers from that girl,” Hux said. “I don't know what a holocron is or why you think I'd have a piece of it, but that doesn't matter. Thank you, Wizard. You've played your part well in this."

Now it was Kylo's turn to frown. "My part?" he asked.

Hux cackled. "You drew the girl towards Emerald City, and now you've driven her away towards my castle!"

_Uh-oh._ "I didn't drive her anywhere!" Kylo said. "Where is she?"

Hux continued cackling until he disappeared in another puff of green smoke. Kylo cursed. Now what was he supposed to do?

 

* * *

 

“We have to get out of here,” Rey said as she pushed Rose back through the door to the wizard’s--Kylo’s--throne hall. (Not a throne room. Never a throne room again.) BB-8 rolled along silently, seeming to understand the urgency of the situation despite not being able to understand Basic. 

“I thought we were all going to get things we needed from the wizard?” Scarecrow-Poe said as he let himself be pulled by lion-Finn, who wanted to run out of there even more than Rey did. “Maybe it’s because I don’t have a brain, but I thought--”

“He’s not a wizard,” Rey said. “I know him. He comes from the same place I do, and he can’t help us. We have to help ourselves.” She didn’t miss the dejected looks she received from her friends at those words, but there was no time to waste comforting them. They had to get out of Emerald City.

They rushed past the townspeople (who started singing again as soon as they walked back through the town square) and found a door in the city wall. Rey didn’t think that it was the same door they’d come in, and when they stepped outside, they couldn’t see any sign of a yellow kyber crystal road. There was a green kyber crystal road that led in one direction and an orange kyber crystal road that led in the other.

“Which road should we take?” tinman-Rose asked.

Rey thought about it. Orange was close to the red blades that darksiders favored in their lightsabers. Green, on the other hand, was a Jedi color. “Take the green path,” she said.

“Where are we going?” lion-Finn asked.

“Away from here,” Rey said.

They followed the path until Emerald City was far behind them, then it led behind a hill and they lost sight of the city. Ahead of them were more trees, but they weren’t the fruit-bearing trees in tinman-Rose’s orchard, nor were they the leafy green ones of lion-Finn’s forest. They looked spindly and dead, and even though the sky had been completely cloudless a moment ago, everything looked darker as thick grey clouds rolled in.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” lion-Finn said with a gulp.

“You just think that because you’re afraid,” said scarecrow-Poe. “But this might get you your bravery! If you face your fear, maybe you’ll earn your courage.”

Lion-Finn thought about it. “What about the rest of you?” he asked. “How will you earn your brain or the tin man, her heart?”

“Maybe there’s a temple in the middle of the forest where we can find those things,” scarecrow-Poe said. “But I don’t know. I don’t have a brain. I can’t think.”

They were too busy debating to notice the flying stormtroopers until it was too late, and next thing Rey knew, they were being lifted into the air and carried off towards a castle sitting on the edge of a mountain. “This had better not be another one of Kylo’s tricks,” she said through gritted teeth as they were carried off.

 

* * *

 

The more Kylo thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became with Hux’s plan. If Rey was involved, he had to find them, even if it meant not being able to show her up by finding the holocron piece first. Sure, she could take care of herself, but that didn’t mean he wanted to sit around on his ass while Hux had all the fun. 

_Just where_ is _Hux’s castle, anyway?_ he thought as he realized he had no idea where to go looking for them. Hux had always come to him. _Think, Kylo._ Okay, if Hux was always accompanied by flying stormtroopers, then he had to be somewhere that was hard to reach without flying, right? There was a mountain range that always seemed to be covered in clouds a little ways away from Emerald City. _That’s the perfect place for an evil lair that’s only accessible by air,_ Kylo thought.

Great. So how was he supposed to get up there? Kylo couldn’t fly. Unless… He groaned. That stupid balloon transport. He’d just left it in the field where he’d landed a few days ago. It had been in perfect condition when he’d landed it, so as long as he could figure out how to get it going again, he could find Hux and therefore Rey.

Kylo ran out of the throne hall and through the gates of Emerald City in the direction of his balloon transport along an orange kyber crystal road (which was a really weird material to use for a road, but since Kylo wasn’t in need of a kyber crystal, he wasn’t particularly concerned about it). He was relieved to see that his balloon hadn’t been damaged by any wandering creatures, and he got to work trying to make it fly again. With a little adjustment of the valves above the basket, he got the flame started, and the balloon began to fill with air. _I can learn to fly anything,_ he told himself. _Even a stupid primitive transport._

By some miracle, he made it to the castle. The flying stormtroopers didn’t give him any trouble, thankfully. Kylo figured that they recognized him and knew that he was supposed to be there, even though Hux had made it seem like he didn’t have any plans to involve Kylo after Rey and her companions had left Emerald City. Whatever, he wasn’t going to question something that made his life easier.

He sneaked into the castle, following the sound of Hux’s cackle, which seemed to echo through the entire structure. (Granted, it wasn’t a big castle, but it still had an eerie effect.) “I’ll get you, my pretty!” Kylo heard Hux screech. _I must be getting close,_ he thought. He tried to reach out with the Force to sense how many people were in the room. Like most of the universes they’d been in, his connection to the Force was weaker than it was at home. He had a vague sense of where Hux and a number of other beings were, and he ran off in that direction.

“Leave BB-8 alone!” Rey shouted.

“Drown him in the river!” Hux shouted at someone.

“You can’t drown a droid, dumbass,” Kylo said as he burst into the room.

“Of _course_ you’re involved with him,” Rey said to Kylo as she rolled her eyes.

“I had nothing to do with this,” Kylo said. “This was all Hux.”

“I told you,” Hux said as he rounded on Kylo. “I am the Wicked Witch of the West. I don’t know this ‘Hux’ person you keep talking about.”

There was a shout from one of the stormtroopers, and a squeal from the droid. “Don’t let that creature escape!” Hux screeched. Kylo watched as the droid rolled off, and was surprised to realize that it was the BB unit he had been after right before he’d met Rey.

“Get out of here, BB-8!” Rey shouted as the droid rolled off faster than Kylo knew it was capable of rolling. One of the stormtroopers ran after it. Kylo swore that the stormtrooper wasn’t actually making much of an effort to do so. Maybe they were less loyal to Hux than Kylo had originally assumed.

Hux cursed, then turned back to face Rey and her friends, who were being held in place by more stormtroopers. Rey looked pissed-off, but her friends just looked terrified. (Kylo still couldn’t believe that this universe had turned Dameron into a scarecrow, of all things.) “Give me the shoes,” he said to Rey.

Rey blinked at him. “Seriously? You’re after my _shoes_?”

“They hold unimaginable power!”

“I’m not giving you my shoes,” Rey said at the same time as Kylo said “Don’t give him anything he wants, Rey.”

Hux glared at Kylo. “I thought you were on my side!”

“You used me as bait to get them to run off in your direction!” Kylo yelled. There was a loud noise from the balcony above them, and Kylo heard a muffled curse. Next thing he knew, someone had poured water from above, splashing everyone. Kylo looked up and saw the BB unit standing next to a hose on the balcon, and he couldn’t hold back a grin. The droid’s ability to improvise had angered him before, but now it was just amusing, even if he couldn’t figure out what the water was supposed to accomplish.

Even more amusing was Hux’s reaction to the water. He screeched, causing everyone in the room to stare at him. “I’m melting!” he said as he shrank. “I’m melting! Oh, what a world! Defeated by some little droid and its dumb companions!” Kylo watched as Hux melted into a pile of wet, black robes. The room was silent for a moment, and then he started laughing so hard he collapsed on the ground. What the actual _fuck_ had just happened?

He was vaguely aware of people talking, and the stormtroopers let Rey and her companions go. Kylo felt Rey unblock him with the Force just a little bit, and then she began laughing, echoing him.

“I don’t understand what’s so funny,” she said through her laughter. “Why am I laughing?”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Kylo said as his laughter subsided enough for him to straighten up. “A _droid_ just caused Hux to _melt._ ”

“None of this ever makes any sense,” Rey said, still grinning. She surprised Kylo by holding out a hand to pull him up.

“Are you okay?” said Kylo as he turned to look at her, reluctantly letting go of her hand. Now that she was in front of him, smiling, he wondered why he had been trying to hard to avoid her.

Rey nodded. “Confused, but okay. You?”

“Oh, I’m grand,” said Kylo.

“Did you find the--” Rey started to ask, but they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of someone Kylo never thought he’d see again, arriving in a flash of pink bubbles. Even the sight of pink wings attached to his back (seriously, what the _kriff_?) couldn’t dampen Kylo’s alarm at the appearance of his dead uncle. He felt a hand on his wrist, and looked over to see Rey looking at him. Was she... _concerned_ about him?

“You’ve defeated the Wicked Witch of the West at last,” Luke said to Rey with a lighthearted smile that Kylo had never seen on his face before.

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Rey said. “You sent me off to a dead end when I asked you to help me get home.” Kylo gave Rey a questioning look. A dead end?

“I told you the wizard could help you get home,” said Luke. “Does he not have the tool to help you?”

“He only has half of it,” Rey said. “Where’s the holocron piece?”

“My dear,” Luke said. Kylo choked at the term of endearment. “You’ve possessed the other tool to get you home all along.”

Rey and Kylo stared at Luke. “Are you kriffing _kidding_ me?” she said. “How have I had the holocron piece the entire time?”

“I told you not to lose your shoes,” Luke said. “I thought it was obvious.”

Rey bent down and pulled her left shoe off, inspecting it closely. They were the weirdest shoes Kylo had ever seen. When she didn’t find anything, she put the shoe down and pulled the other one off. There, in the heel of the shoe, was a tiny compartment that Kylo would have missed completely if Rey hadn’t been inspecting it so closely. She popped it open, and the holocron piece was sitting in her shoe. “This is the weirdest hiding place yet,” she murmured to Kylo as she stood up.

“Agreed,” said Kylo as he pulled the holocron out of his pocket. “Are you ready to go?” Rey nodded, and held out the piece to him. Kylo saw her make an obscene gesture at Luke and the pile of robes that was the remains of Hux, and he grinned as everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

Kylo looked at the room around him. It was a mess. The walls were covered in notes and papers (including a poster with the phrase “I want to believe” on it), and there were drawers with paper files spilling over them. There was only one desk in the room, where Rey was sitting. She was looking at an open file on the desk, frowning. Kylo could see a sort of identification badge pinned to the coat she was wearing. He looked down and saw a similar one clipped to his shirt. He pulled it off an examined it. There was a photo of his face and the letters “FBI” in a large font taking up half the space on the badge. Below it was the phrase “Special Agent” and his signature-- _Ben Solo’s_ signature--on the line below it. Apparently he wasn’t ‘Kylo’ here, either. Surprisingly, he found that it bothered him less than it had in the past, although he wasn’t sure why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you hadn’t noticed, Hux is hands-down my favorite character to fuck with in this fic.
> 
> Any guesses as to where they're off to next?


	11. The truth is out there (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aliens and government conspiracies abound when Rey and Kylo are FBI agents in the 1990s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all of your wonderful comments and kudos! It really does mean a lot to me to hear what you think about this fever dream that my brain spits out. You guys have some really good ideas for AUs that are so much fun to think about. Some of them may or may not already be in the plan...you'll just have to wait and see :)
> 
> Full disclaimer, I'm not familiar with the places that Rey and Kylo visit here, so if I've made a mistake, I apologize.

Kylo opened his eyes. He was standing in front of some sort of strange rounded holoscreen that was showing the grey blur of static. Behind him, he heard a noise, and he turned around to see Rey sitting at a desk, blinking.

“Where are we now?” she asked.

Kylo looked at the room around him. It was a mess. The walls were covered in notes and papers (including a poster with the phrase “I want to believe” on it), and there were drawers with paper files spilling over them. There was only one desk in the room, where Rey was sitting. She was looking at an open file on the desk, frowning. Kylo could see a sort of identification badge pinned to the coat she was wearing. He looked down and saw a similar one clipped to his shirt. He pulled it off an examined it. There was a photo of his face and the letters “FBI” in a large font taking up half the space on the badge. Below it was the phrase “Special Agent” and his signature-- _Ben Solo’s_ signature--on the line below it. Apparently he wasn’t ‘Kylo’ here, either. Surprisingly, he found that it bothered him less than it had in the past, although he wasn’t sure why.

“What does your badge say?” Kylo said, ignoring Rey’s question.

She looked down at the badge pinned to her jacket. “FBI Special Agent Rey Sculder.”

“Rey _Sculder_?”

“I hate not having a real last name,” Rey grumbled. “I end up getting a new one in every universe and it’s always something weird. I’m not sure what this FBI thing is, but come look at this.” She waved at the file on the desk in front of her.

“Just a second,” Kylo said as he inspected the screen in front of him. There was a small box on top of it with a blinking light. He pressed a button, and something began to play on the screen. He stepped back, stopping when he bumped into the edge of the desk.

“What is this?” said Rey.

“I’m not sure,” Kylo said as they watched the holovid. It looked like some sort of medical treatment, if a medical treatment consisted of ten doctors hovering over a small vaguely humanoid creature. He realized with a jolt that it was actually ten doctors performing an autopsy on a creature a third of their size. _Is ten doctors really necessary for a standard autopsy?_ he wondered.

“Are we in medical school?” Rey asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Kylo. They watched the rest of the video in silence. Kylo jumped when the video stopped with a loud click, and the screen went back to displaying static. He turned to face Rey and was mildly alarmed to find that she had stood up and was leaning in to where he stood so that she was standing so close that he could-- _No. Can’t go there._ “Uh,” he said, pulling back quickly. “What did you want to show me?”

Rey pointed at the open file on the desk. There were what looked like travel plans to a place called “Knoxville, Tennessee,” a news report about a “UFO sighting,” and an anonymous note warning them that “They have eyes everywhere.” Great. More spy stuff.

“I think we’re in another version of that universe we keep ending up in,” she said. “The one with New York City and California.”

“What are we doing here this time?” Kylo asked.

She picked up the tickets. “We’re going to Knoxville, apparently.”

 

* * *

 

Rey did not like Knoxville. 

This whole universe frustrated her, actually. It was so similar to other universes she and Kylo had visited, but it was more than twenty years before the time they’d visited it before. They’d been to enough versions of this universe that she was starting to get comfortable with the technology and terminology, but this one was far enough back that she felt like she was back to square one.

“Why are we still here?” she asked Kylo as he stared down at an instrument he was using to measure… Well, Rey had no idea what he was trying to measure. If it was the humidity, she could tell him without the help of fancy instruments that it was ‘humid as balls,’ as the people in this universe liked to say.

“I think the holocron piece is nearby,” he said.

“I don’t sense anything,” she grumbled.

“How would you know?” he said. “It was in your shoe the entire time we were in Oz and you didn’t even notice.”

Rey’s cheeks burned. She turned and walked back to the car in silence, not wanting Kylo to mock her any further. _Stupid Kylo and stupid Knoxville and stupid weather_. She sighed. _May as well make the best of this_ she thought as she sat down on the bumper of the car and closed her eyes.

It was sometimes hard to find time to stop and meditate, depending on the pace of things in each new universe. If she had downtime now, she should use it. She focused on her breathing, counting her breaths until she slipped into a light trance. She reached out around her. As always, Kylo was at the forefront of her consciousness. She’d never been able to tell if that was solely because of their Force bond, or if it was because he was the only other person from her universe stuck with her. 

And Kylo… Things were changing between them. After Oz, Rey started to feel like they were finally getting tired of fighting all the time. The time they’d spent apart in that universe made her realize how much mental energy she put into blocking him out. It didn’t make sense, considering how much energy she had to spend just to keep up with all of the changes in each new universe. But she refused to think about _why_ things were changing, and the hint of a memory of a conversation in a hut on Ahch-To wouldn’t stop nagging at her. Add to that the fact that it seemed like more and more universes seemed to use the name ‘Ben’ instead of ‘Kylo,’ and...

“Are you okay?”

Rey jumped. She’d been so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Kylo (Ben? No, _Kylo_ ) approaching. “Yeah,” she said. “Just meditating.” He gave her a strange look, but he didn’t say anything as he opened the car door and nodded at Rey to get in.

“There’s something strange about this place,” he said. “The problem is, I don’t understand half of the data I’m getting from it.”

“Then why are we still wasting our time here?”

“Where else would we look for the holocron piece?” he said as they got on the highway. “Besides, I think I have a lead. There’s a witness to the UFO sighting that we’re investigating. He doesn’t live too far from here.”

“I can’t believe these people are so worried about spaceships,” she said. “How have they not developed that technology yet? This can’t possibly be the only inhabited planet in this galaxy.”

“Why are you still trying to make sense out of any of this?” he said.

She thought about it. “Fair point.”

They didn’t talk as Kylo drove down the highway.  (It turned out that driving a car was nothing like flying a spaceship. She and Kylo had learned that the hard way some universes ago, and they had the scars to prove it.) Rey stared out the window, watching the buildings and trees go by. It was getting late in the evening, and the light from the setting sun washed everything in gold. She refused to let herself stare at the way the dramatic lighting made Kylo’s scar stand out. That was only going to lead to more confused thoughts.

It was dark by the time they pulled up to a small house somewhere outside of Knoxville. There were no lights on in the house, but there was a car in the driveway. “Maybe he’s hanging out in the back of the house,” Kylo said as Rey commented on the lack of lights. “His car’s here.”

They knocked on the door, but there was no response. “Mr. Anderson?” Kylo called through the door. Still no response. He glanced at Rey, and she nodded. “We’re coming in,” Kylo said as he opened the door. It wasn’t locked, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Locks didn’t always seem to be a common thing in this universe.

Something was off about the house, Rey realized as they stepped in. It looked like a hurricane of papers had torn through the house. “I think someone’s already been and gone,” she said as they followed the trail of papers into the kitchen.

Neither she nor Kylo was very surprised when they saw a man lying dead on the kitchen floor. “We must have gotten here too late,” she said as she knelt down to take a closer look at the man. “It look like he was shot with a blaster.”

“Gun,” Kylo corrected as he rifled through the man’s things.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she poked the body with a pen she found on the ground.

“Looking for clues,” he said. “What else?”

“Kylo, there’s a dead man on the floor,” she said. “Not long dead, either.” She knew what bodies looked like as they decayed. This one was still fresh. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything.”

“There’s got to be something here,” he said.

“I think we should get out of here,” Rey said as she stood up. “I don’t think we’re--” There was a loud _bang!_ and Rey yelped as Kylo dived for her and knocked her down. “What are you doing?” she said as she shoved him off of her. The fact that her heart was pounding was definitely due to the surprise of being shot at and _not_ because Be-- _Kylo_ was suddenly lying on top of her.

“Someone just shot at you,” he said.

“So wave the blasts out of the way with the Force,” she hissed. He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when there was another _bang!_ They pushed themselves up off the floor and scrambled out the door and into the car, more bullets flying after them. Rey opened the car window and half-hung out of it as she tried to sense the bullets to keep them flying at the car, but she was tugged back into her seat by Kylo as he accelerated and sped them out of the neighborhood. “What the hell happened back there?” she said, her heart still pounding.

“We must be onto something, if someone’s trying to kill us,” he said. “But I don’t think there’s anything else we can do here.”

“Does that mean we can _finally_ leave Knoxville?”

“I think it’s time we go back to the messy basement office.”

 

* * *

 

When Kylo and Rey returned to DC, they had a phone message waiting for them. “Sculder, Solo. It’s Tico. Call us back when you get this. We think we found something on that UFO case you’re working.” 

“Tico?” said Kylo. “Isn’t she one of your friends?”

“Rose,” said Rey. “‘Call _us_ back.’ I wonder if Finn and Poe are with her.”

“They seem to come as a package deal in these universes,” Kylo said dryly.

“I don’t see any of _your_ friends here,” said Rey. “Unless Hux counts?”

Ouch. She didn’t have to remind him that he had no friends. “I wouldn’t call Hux a ‘friend’,” he muttered.

“Oh sorry, your _frenemey._ ” He glared at her, but he caught a hint of a smile on her face. She was teasing him, he realized. Since when did Rey tease him?

Hell, since when did he _let_ her?

He was still pondering this uncomfortable new development while Rey called Tico back. “Come on,” she said as soon as she hung up the phone. “They’re waiting to meet us. I’m driving.”

It didn’t take long to drive to the hideout where Tico, Dameron, and the traitor (“Finn Trooper” was his name in this universe, according to Rey) were hiding. Their workshop had more sophisticated security than Kylo realized this universe was capable of producing, and he found himself having to duck to avoid some of the wires hanging off of the ceiling. _Damn Dameron and his short legs._

Rey talked to her friends while Kylo wandered around the hideout, trying to resist the urge to pick things up and take them apart to see how they worked. He’d never been very interested in mechanics (unless they involved a spaceship or a lightsaber), but having access to some of Rey’s thoughts and memories had started to make him curious about the way things worked.

“Be careful, Solo,” the traitor-- _Finn_ \--said to him with a grin. “You break it, you buy it.” Kylo forced himself to smile back and hold up his hands to show that he wasn’t breaking something. Seeing Finn look at him like they were friends made Kylo feel...guilty?

Guilty. _I feel guilty for trying to kill him,_ Kylo realized. He wondered if this version of Finn still had a scar on his back.

Finn frowned at Kylo’s change in expression. “Are you okay?” he said.

“I’m fine,” Kylo said quickly. What was _happening_ to him? First he nearly took a bullet for Rey, now he was feeling guilty about nearly killing a traitor?

“Thanks, guys,” Rey said, pulling Kylo out of his confusing train of thought. “We appreciate the help.” She looked around for Kylo, and gave him a mental nudge. _Let’s go._

“Watch out, Sculder,” Tico said as Rey and Kylo left the hideout. “The walls have ears. They’re always watching you.” Kylo shivered. He _hated_ spy drama.

“They found another lead,” Rey said as she and Kylo got into the car. “In a place called Kinston, North Carolina. It’s a few hours’ drive from here. They wrote the directions down on the map for us.”

“It’s getting late,” Kylo said as he looked at the clock in the car. “Are you sure we have enough time to drive there today?”

“We can just stay in another motel for the night if we need to,” Rey said. (According to case notes, they did a _lot_ of traveling and stayed in a _lot_ of motels in this universe.) “Besides, I don’t want to hang around here any longer than we have to. I don’t like this universe. It’s too humid.”

A few hours later, they were pulling up to another house in another humid southern town. Kylo took a moment to reach out with the Force in an attempt to check for dead bodies, but he didn’t find anything. It was still a little light out, so hopefully, no one would try to shoot at them again.

Rey and Kylo didn’t speak as they walked up to the house and knocked on the door. “Keep an eye out in case someone starts shooting at us again,” Kylo murmured to Rey as the front door opened.

“Hi,” Rey said with a polite smile to the woman standing in the doorway. “I’m--”

“Rey Sculder,” the woman said breathlessly. Kylo felt a quick pang of panic from Rey (was this someone she was supposed to know?) as the woman pulled her in for a hug. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I--I’m sorry,” Rey said as she pulled back.

The woman’s face fell. “You don’t remember,” she said. “Figures.” When she saw Rey’s and Kylo’s confused expressions, she stepped away from the door. “You may as well come in,” she said. “I think we have a lot to talk about.” With a quick silent exchange, Rey and Kylo deemed it safe enough to enter.

“My name is Betsy,” the woman said. “You must have a lot of questions, Rey. From when you were kidnapped.”

The word seemed to trigger some reaction in Rey. “ _Kidnapped_?” she yelped. Kylo froze as she turned and glared at him. “Do you know her? Is this someone _else_ you kidnapped back in our universe?”

“That was one time!” Kylo said. “And I had a good reason to kidnap you!”

“There is never a ‘good reason’ to kidnap someone. And besides, you never apologized for it, you asshole!”

Kylo opened his mouth, but then shut it again. She had a point. “I’m sorry for kidnapping you,” he said.

“And for that kriffing creepy comment you made?” _You know I can take whatever I want._ The memory of that conversation floated through Kylo’s head. He didn’t know if the memory originated from him or Rey. It was hard to tell when they both got emotional like this.

“And for that kriffing creepy comment I made,” he said. “That was probably not the best way to introduce myself.”

“You think?” Rey said, but her look softened a bit as something else occurred to her. “Not that I’m a saint,” she said. “I _did_ give you that scar and left you for dead on a dying planet. And then again on a dying starship.”

“Yeah,” he said with grimace. “You did.” They stared at each other, the other woman in the room completely forgotten for the moment. This conversation was long overdue, Kylo realized. In all the time they’d spent traveling and fighting and searching on this weird quest to get home, they’d never discussed the (less-than-ideal) way they’d met. “For what it’s worth,” he said as he stepped closer to Rey. “I’m not mad at you for giving me this scar.”

She gave him a confused look. “Why not?”

“It’s what I deserved,” he murmured, suddenly unable to meet her eyes.

“Oh, Be--Kylo,” she said quietly. Kylo hadn’t realized how much he wanted to hear her say his birth name again until it almost slipped from her mouth. He closed his eyes as he felt her fingertips brush his cheeks, then she tilted his head down so that she could press a gentle kiss to his forehead. He was sure that she could hear how hard his heart was pounding as she pulled away.

The sound of a throat clearing broke the spell between Rey and Kylo, and they jumped apart. “I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Betsy said. “But can you have your lover’s quarrel or sexual roleplay or whatever on your own time, and not when we’re about to discuss a massive government conspiracy involving kidnapped women and alien-human hybrids?”

“We’re not--” Rey and Kylo both said at the same time, but the woman waved her hand as if to say that it didn’t matter.

“Whatever,” she said. “Do you want to hear about the conspiracy or not?”

 

* * *

 

“I still don’t understand why everyone is so obsessed with hiding spaceships,” Rey said she drove them away from Betsy’s house. “It’s not like the First Order is trying to take over the galaxy here.” 

“They’re afraid of what they don’t understand,” said Kylo. “And they don’t understand spaceships.”

_Speaking of things I don’t understand…_ Rey stopped the thought before she could finish it, just in case Kylo accidentally heard something she didn’t want him to know. What had that whole exchange been about earlier? Why now? And why, stars above, did she feel compelled to kiss Kylo’s _forehead_?

More importantly: why had he _let_ her?

“What are we supposed to do about it?” Rey said. “By their standards, _we’re_ aliens.”

“We’re still human,” Kylo said. “I think they’d be okay with us if they knew. In any case, I still think that this has something to do with the holocron piece. If we’re considered aliens, then the holocron piece must be ‘alien tech.’ Which means that someone out there is after it.”

“The truth is out there,” Rey murmured, thinking of the poster on the wall in their office.

“Which truth?” Kylo said with a bitter laugh. “We’re stranded? We don’t belong here? All we do is fight?”

“Not always,” Rey said before she could stop herself. She felt her face heat up, and she was suddenly very glad that she was too preoccupied with dodging traffic on the road ahead of her to see the look Kylo was giving her. _Please don’t ask me about the forehead kiss,_ she found herself thinking.

“I guess not,” Ben-- _Kylo_ murmured. Kylo. Why was it getting harder and harder to use that name? And why did it seem to matter so much? Maybe that was a normal thing when you had too many names. You made other people confused as to which one to use. (Rey wouldn’t know. She just had the one. ‘Sculder’ didn’t count.)

A sudden ringing noise broke the tension in the car. Kylo pulled his phone (a much clunkier thing than the other phones they’d had in different versions of this universe) out of his pocket and picked it up. “Solo,” he said.

The voice on the other end of the phone was loud enough that Rey could hear the speaker over the noise of the other cars on the road. “Hey Solo. You guys find Betsy?”

“Hey, Dameron,” Kylo said. “Yeah, we did.”

“And?”

“She told us all about some government conspiracy,” Kylo said. “Some of it was useful.” Was it her imagination, or did he sound a little strained when discussing the conversation at Betsy’s house? It must have been Rey’s overtired imagination. (Driving a car was considerably more exhausting than piloting a ship. No one in this universe had autopilot.)

“When are you coming back to DC?” Poe asked.

Kylo looked over at Rey. “Tomorrow, I think,” he said. “It’s getting late.”

“Good,” said Poe. “Call us when you get back and we’ll talk somewhere more secure.” Rey resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Why was everyone in this universe so damn paranoid all the time?

“Will do,” said Kylo. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. “I just saw a sign for a motel,” he said. “Let’s stop for the night. I’m tired.”

Rey didn’t argue. She needed space from Kylo, even if they were just spending a night in separate rooms at another shitty motel. She wasn’t ready to deal with the “weird post-apology forehead kiss” bantha in the room just yet. She doubted he was, either.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

Kylo ducked down an alleyway, running through a maze of side streets and narrow corridors. There were more people here, but they ducked and hid as soon as they saw the masked man and his pursuer streaking by. _Good_ , he thought. _This is between me and her._

Wait, _her_? Who did that refer to? Who was he running from, and why did he feel like he _wanted_ to get caught by her?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about that trademark X-Files ‘trying to up the romantic tension without actually making their relationship explicitly canon’ forehead kiss, huh?? Rey’s surname here is “Sculder” in a nod to The Ship™. (For real, Mulder/Scully is the origin of the term ‘shipping.’ It’s the OG ship war).
> 
> For those of you who aren't familiar with The X-Files: Scully (Rey) is kidnapped pretty early on, which was the writers' way of writing Gillian Anderson (who plays Scully) off for a few episodes due to her pregnancy. It ends up causing all sorts of drama later on down the road. At least Kylo didn't kidnap Rey as part of an elaborate government conspiracy to create alien-human hybrids, right? ;)


	12. Meanwhile, in Gotham City...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated when two masked vigilantes chase each other around the streets of Gotham City late at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *casually ups the rating* If smut isn't your thing, skip to the end notes for a summary of this chapter.
> 
> For those of you who requested Marvel - don't worry, I know that DC is not the same. But this one's been on the outline for a while :)

Rey was running through a city that she half-recognized. She didn’t remember how she got there, nor did she know who--or what--she was chasing, but she knew that she had to follow it. Between her full-body armor, cape, and mask, all of which were as dark as the night around her, she knew that she would evade notice, allowing her to sneak up on her quarry. To her relief, her lightsaber was attached to her belt, along with various other tools and weapons. 

Kylo was running as well, but he was running away from something, reveling in the chase. He knew there was a reason for it, but he didn’t know (or care) what it was. He was mildly alarmed to realize that he was wearing a skintight, full-body leather suit, complete with a half-mask (which made him nostalgic for his old mask and helmet), but a part of his brain said _shh, just go with it_ , so he kept on running through the empty city streets.

They both probably would have been more alarmed if they hadn’t gotten so used to being thrown into new worlds and situations, but there was something different about this one. It was a little more intuitive than the others, and yet, something about it was hazier.

Kylo ducked down an alleyway, running through a maze of side streets and narrow corridors. There were more people here, but they ducked and hid as soon as they saw the masked man and his pursuer streaking by. _Good_ , he thought. _This is between me and her._

Wait, _her_? Who did that refer to? Who was he running from, and why did he feel like he _wanted_ to get caught by her?

The person Rey was chasing was as silent and stealthy as she was. She didn’t really know who she was chasing, or why she had to catch him, but she knew she had to be relentless as she vaulted down sketchy alleyways after him. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she caught him, and she had the vague sense that they had been chasing each other for a long time, but neither of them had been willing to be caught. Not before tonight.

Kylo let his feet carry him where they wanted, figuring that it was safer if he didn’t think too hard about where he was going. He knew these streets; he wasn’t going to end up leading his pursuer anywhere that he didn’t want them to be. He took a sharp left to disappear down yet another dark alleyway, and nearly ran into a wall. _Dead end,_ he thought. He was oddly excited about the prospect of being caught.

At last, the man she was chasing lead her to a dead end. Rey smiled as she slowed her gait and stalked up to corner him against the wall. “Catwoman,” she said in a smoky voice that she almost didn’t recognize as her own.

“You caught me, Batman.” Catwoman? Since when was his name Catwoman? And Batman wasn’t _really_ the name of the woman who currently had him cornered up against a dirty alley wall, was it?

Even though he was wearing a mask that hid half of his face, there was something familiar about the scar running down his face. They both hid behind their secret identities, but Rey had the strangest feeling that they knew each other’s true selves. It was unnerving to know that there was someone who knew such intimate details of her past, but she found herself unable to run away from him. In fact, she’d stepped closer to him without realizing it, pushing him so close to the wall that their bodies were nearly touching. Were they enemies? _Funny way to act with an enemy,_ she thought.

“Return the jewels you stole,” the woman said as she leaned up to whisper in his ear. Kylo shivered. He had no idea what she was talking about. And how _dare_ she try to tell him what to do?

“Or what?” he said, looking down at her. He knew her, he realized, but who was she? How did they know each other? Well, based on his body’s reaction to her all but pinning him up against the wall, they were _intimately_ acquainted, but why?

The urge to touch him was overwhelming. Rey barely registered what she was doing as she nibbled on his ear, one hand snaking up to unzip the top of his leather suit so that his neck was exposed. He sighed and wrapped his hands around her, pulling her flush against him as she nipped and licked at the sensitive skin on his neck. The tight leather of his suit left little to the imagination, and she could feel that he was already aroused. She probably should have been surprised that her body was reacting similarly, but they had been circling around this for so long that it was only a matter of time before things boiled over between them. On some level, she’d been wanting him for so long, but something had always held her back. _Not anymore,_ she decided as he tilted her face up to capture her lips with his. A part of her knew that this was a bad idea for some reason, but she couldn’t stop herself from reaching one of her hands up to tangle in his hair, the other pulling the zipper on the catsuit lower so that more of his chest was exposed.

Kylo was mildly alarmed to realize that he had gone out in the field with just a skintight leather suit for protection, especially when she was wearing actual body armor. He fumbled with her armor, trying to figure out how to get it off. It wasn’t fair for him to be the only one with exposed skin. She broke this kiss when she realized what he was trying to do, and undid a complicated series of buckles and straps before sliding the armor off and throwing it to the side. She wasn’t going to come to any harm tonight. Not from him.

Rey felt so much lighter without the armored shirt and cape, and she realized that she didn’t normally fight dressed up like that. _Good,_ she thought. _Too much effort._ And anyway, it was much more convenient that she was wearing a lightweight button-down shirt underneath it. Which was _definitely_ more convenient right now, as the man ripped it open in his haste to touch her bare skin. _He’s always so impatient,_ she found herself thinking. _Wait. Always?_  

His cock twitched as he took in her lack of bra. One of his hands trailed up her stomach to cup her breast, the other still around her waist, holding her close to him. She gasped as his thumb brushed a nipple, and he repeated the motion, enjoying the way her nipple pebbled under his touch. He trailed kisses down to suck at her neck, and she attempted to push the leather catsuit off of his shoulders, leaving his upper body completely bare. She raked her fingernails down his chest and moaned as he sucked hard enough to leave a mark on her neck.

This wasn’t enough for him. He pulled away just long enough to pick her up and turn so that he was holding her up against the wall. She fought for a second at the loss of control, but then she whispered, “If you’re going to take control like this, you need to touch me.” Of _course_ she would make this a control thing, and of _course_ he would give into it as he fumbled with the belt she was wearing.

Rey didn’t want to just let the belt holding her lightsaber sink out of reach, but her need to have him touch her was stronger than her desire to keep a weapon handy. She undid the bindings on the belt and let it drop to the ground, then she undid the button on her trousers and let them slide down a bit. It was a little awkward to maneuver when he wouldn’t let her down, but she stopped caring a second later as he slid his hand down between her legs.

Kriff, she was so _wet_. Kylo was mildly alarmed to realize that he’d been fantasizing about this for a while, and in his fantasizes, he hadn’t realized how wet she would be. He let his fingers slide over her lips, not completely sure which was the most sensitive part. (He’d never done this before, he realized. He hoped she didn’t notice.) He knew he’d found it when she let out a loud moan that made his cock throb.

“Fuck, Ben,” she moaned. They both stopped. Ben. That was his name. And she was…

“Rey,” he whispered as he looked into her eyes. They had a complicated relationship, he remembered. She hated him for something he’d done, and he hated (or, rather, wanted to hate) her for something _she’d_ done. But as her fingers reached up to gently pull the mask from his face, she didn’t say anything or push him away. She trailed her fingers along his scar--the scar _she_ had given him--then pulled off her own mask. “Stars, you’re beautiful,” he said as he took her in. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you that.” The lighting wasn’t great in the alleyway, but he didn’t need to see the details of her face to remember how she looked. He spent far too much time memorizing her as it was.

“Shut up and touch me, Ben,” she said as she shifted her hips. He got the message and traced small circles around her clit, earning him another moan. “Inside,” she groaned. “I want you inside of me.”

Hearing her say the words nearly made him come right then and there, and she grimaced as he tried to slide two fingers in too hastily. “Sorry,” he said between kisses. “Sorry.” He slid a finger in more carefully this time, then added another as he felt her relax. He’d never done this before, but she seemed to know what she wanted, and he was more than happy to follow her lead.

“Yeah,” she said as he curled his fingers up and pumped them inside of her. “That’s good. Fuck, Ben, I need you so badly.”

Rey didn’t have a ton of experience with sex, but whatever Ben was doing was working _much_ better than anything her previous partners had done. She couldn’t believe that she was about to have sex with Kylo kriffing Ren (Ben? No, Kylo; the difference was important to her, for some reason) in a dirty back alley in some unfamiliar universe, but tensions had been running high for a while, and she was too far gone to care so long as he fucked her soon. She cursed again as he slid another finger in her, sensing that he was as desperate for her as she was for him.

Kriffing trousers. They were getting in the way. Unless… “Put me down,” she said breathlessly.

He paused, then pulled his fingers out of her and put them in his mouth, savoring the taste of her. That was definitely something he wanted more of later. She was tugging at the zipper on his bodysuit again, tugging it down so that she could push the suit lower on his hips. He let out a sound that was halfway between a sign and a moan as she ran her hands over his cock, smearing precum over the tip of it. “Rey,” he moaned softly.

She kissed him, then turned around and pressed her back up to him. There. Trousers problem solved. Of course, she couldn’t kiss him like this, which was a shame (as it turned out, he was really good with his tongue, which was _definitely_ something to be explored more in depth later), but as he held her to him and slowly slid into her, she realized that she didn’t care right now.

His hands were gripping her hips so strongly that she was probably going to have bruises from it later as he paused for a moment, letting her adjust. She shifted her hips a little bit to let him know that it was okay, and he moaned her name softly.  It was still an awkward angle, but he was hitting all the right places, so she wasn’t going to complain too much about it. (Actually, she was moaning pretty hard as he thrust into her.) Without prompting, he snaked a hand around to play with her clit. She cursed again. It wasn’t going to take her long to come like that.

This was better than anything Kylo had ever imagined. (Not that he’d imagined this _particular_ set of circumstances, but the rest of it…) The sound of Rey moaning his name made his head spin, and as the heat built in him, he made sure that she was feeling every bit as good. The sounds she made when he touched her clit were evidence of that.

“Ben, I’m so close,” she moaned. And then--

Rey cursed as she woke up, not conscious enough to do anything other than put her hand between her legs and finish what the dream started.

A dream. A karking _shared dream_. Kylo didn’t think he’d ever been so sexually frustrated in his life, and he knew that he was still deep in some sort of Force bond connection with Rey, because he could feel that she had woken up in the same exact state he was in, and she was doing the exact same thing he was about to do. He barely had to touch himself before he was coming, and he swore he heard Rey moan his name through the thin wall of the motel room as he felt the echoes of her orgasm as well.

It took a couple of minutes for their hearts to stop pounding, and Rey woke up a bit more. _Oh, kriff_ she thought as she realized what had just happened. Kylo _, if you’re listening, we are never, ever,_ ever _speaking of this again._ Kylo. Not Ben. She definitely wasn’t ready to go back to calling him ‘Ben’ yet. 

_Sure we aren’t,_ he replied. _Batman._

 

* * *

  

_Next time…_

“How do we get back on the highway from here?” Kylo asked in an attempt to break the silence in the most neutral way possible. 

“You can’t read the signs?” she said. The signs? What signs? Because he wasn’t getting any signs from Rey that-- “There’s signs for route 70 everywhere.”

Oh. Road signs. Of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: batman!Rey chases catwoman!Kylo around Gotham City, neither of them fully aware of their own identities. Then they bang and realize halfway through who they are (Rey calls him ‘Ben’), then it turns out it was all a dream and they agree to never discuss it again (and Rey goes back to ‘Kylo’).
> 
> I know, I know, “it was all a dream” is _super_ cliche especially when paired with the “Force bond shared dream” trope, but I wanted a smutty superheroes AU and I couldn’t resist using that cliche. Besides, these nerfherders need a ~~push~~ shove in the right direction, even though they aren’t quite ready to deal with their feelings yet.
> 
> Back to the FBI on Monday (the truth is still out there, folks)!


	13. The truth is out there (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is still out there, now with 50% more sexual tension!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all of your comments and kudos! It puts a big smile on my face to know that you guys are enjoying this :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I am unfamiliar with North Carolina, so if by some small chance someone reading this is from the Kinston, NC area, please forgive me for any inaccuracies there.

The next morning was probably the most awkward, uncomfortable, and tense morning of Rey’s entire life. She was so nervous about the idea of having to spend five hours in a car with Kylo that she nearly told him that she’d just take a bus back to DC. But that would probably make it obvious how much she was trying to avoid him, and doing _that_ would mean that she would have to admit to what had happened during the night. Stars. She was pretty sure he’d heard her moan her name, too. The motel walls were so thin.

Well. It wasn’t like ‘Ben’ was a rare name in this universe. If he asked, she’d plead ignorant and blame it on one of the other motel guests.

She jumped as someone pounded on the door. “Are you ready to go?” Kriff, just the _sound_ of Kylo’s voice made her uncomfortable. She was going to _die_ on this drive back to DC.

The worst part was, it wasn’t like she was a stranger to sexual attraction. There had been a couple of people passing through Niima Outpost at various points when she was younger. But her motivation in sleeping with those people had been more about trying to keep the loneliness at bay (and, if she was being honest, the free meal they sometimes bought for her), and her motivation with Ben-- _Kylo_ \--was pure, awful, confusing attraction that would probably not exist if he hadn’t been stupid enough to invoke some stupid Force ritual designed to get her to go to the dark side, leaving her stuck with him as the only person who actually understood what was going on. It had definitely not existed before that. No way. (Had it?)

She took a deep breath and tried to steel her nerves. “Yeah,” she said. “Let’s go.” She opened the door and walked out of the room, unable to make eye contact with him. Which meant that she had no idea if he was feeling as awkward as she was about the situation. She was back to expending a stupid amount of mental energy keeping his mind separate from hers, and she greeted him by tossing the car keys at him. “You’re driving,” she said.

 

* * *

 

Kylo had no idea how he was going to manage interacting with Rey ever again after that _stupid_ shared dream. He had mostly convinced myself that it was a ‘dream within a dream’ scenario and that he had dreamt the part that had happened after he’d woken up, but Rey seemed as silent and uncomfortable as he was as she threw her bag in the car and got in the passenger’s side seat.

“How do we get back on the highway from here?” he asked in an attempt to break the silence in the most neutral way possible.

“You can’t read the signs?” she said. The signs? What signs? Because he wasn’t getting any signs from Rey that-- “There are signs for route 70 everywhere.”

Oh. Road signs. Of course.

He didn’t know what to say to Rey’s grumpy tone, so after a few more minutes of painfully awkward silence, he reached down to turn on the car radio.

_I just can’t help myself, I’m acting like an animal_  
_Now here’s my scandal, I wanna get you home_  
_And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh  
__I ain’t talking ‘bout Playboy, because silicone parts are made for toys_  

Kylo hit the “station search” button as soon as he realized the nature of the lyrics.

_So show me yours, I’ll show you mine_  
_‘Tool time’ you’ll Lovett just like Lyle_  
_And then we’ll do it doggy style_  
_So that we can both watch X-Files_  
_You and me, baby, ain’t nothing but mammals  
__So let’s do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel._  

This one was even worse _._ He hit “station search” again.

_I don’t want anybody else  
__When I think about you I touch myself._  

Kylo had never reached for a button so fast in his life.

Thankfully, the next station was all talk, no music. _“Welcome to Car Talk,_ ” the man on the radio said. Well, cars were boring, but it beat the hell out of all of the music choices available in the area.

They spent the entire five-hour drive back to DC listening to boring talk radio. If Kylo hadn’t been so focused on not discussing the bantha in the room with Rey, he would have fallen asleep listening to it. He didn’t start to relax until he had dropped her off at her apartment and was on his way back to his apartment alone.

That peace didn’t last, however. Kylo sensed that there was someone in his apartment as soon as he parked his car, but he couldn’t see anyone moving around in there. He had no idea who he would have given a key to--the Ben Solo of this universe didn’t seem to interact with anyone besides Rey and “The Lone Gunmen.”

He opened the door slowly, ready to pull out his lightsaber if needed. (He and Rey both carried their lightsabers around with them, but after the first universe, they’d made it a point to try to avoid using them. They couldn’t count on Hux bailing them out of jail in every universe.)

“Stand down, Solo,” a familiar voice said as Kylo shut the door behind him. “It’s just me.”

“Hux?” Kylo said as he relaxed his stance. Hux hadn’t shown up yet in this universe; Kylo had assumed that he didn’t exist in it until now.

“I’m here to warn you,” Hux said as he stood up from where he had been sitting on Kylo’s couch. “They’re listening. They know you’re onto something.”

“‘They’? ‘They’ who?” This whole government conspiracy thing was so annoying. Kylo preferred a good old-fashioned fight to the death.

“You know who they are,” Hux said quietly. “My hands are tied, Solo. I can’t help you out of this one.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They can’t be trusted,” Hux said as he handed Kylo a folder. “Be careful. They’ve planted fake evidence in between the real stuff. It’s up to you and Sculder to find the truth.”

“For kriff’s sake, Hux,” Kylo said as he took the folder. “Can you _not_ be insufferably vague?”

“I’m sorry,” Hux said. “I’ve already told you too much. They’re watching me.” Without another word, he left the apartment. Kylo picked up the nearest thing--a glass--and threw it at the door with a wordless shout. _I hate conspiracies and Hux and long car rides and Rey and dreams and EVERYTHING!_

  

* * *

 

Rey had no idea how she’d managed to last the car ride back to DC without combusting into flames. As interested she was in cars (what? she’d spent most of her life wandering around the inside of starships; it was interesting to investigate the technology of a completely different universe), the radio show was barely enough to keep her thoughts occupied. Judging by Kylo’s silence, he didn’t want to talk about it, either. 

Kriff. How were they ever going to be able to get anything done again with this humiliating shared dream? He probably wasn’t even all that attracted to her, anyway. He’d made it pretty clear that he’d only ever seen her as someone who rivaled him for strength with the Force, not as, like, a prospective girlfriend or something. Not that she wanted that from him, anyway.

But if he wasn’t attracted to her...whose brain had the dream originated from? Because it was going to be pretty kriffing humiliating if it was a totally one-sided attraction originating from her.

It wasn’t until Rey was standing inside of her apartment, _alone_ , that she felt her muscles start to relax. Usually, sex was great for relaxing muscles. This time, it had the opposite effect. She groaned. She needed a shower. A long, _cold_ shower.

Half an hour later, Rey was toweling off her hair as it occurred to her that she was supposed to call her friends back with some more information. (She couldn’t believe that Finn’s last name here was ‘Trooper.’ _Could you be a little less original, Force spell?_ ) She dialed Rose’s number and tapped her foot impatiently as the phone rang. 

“Tico,” Rose said as she picked up.

“It’s Rey.”

“Sculder! How was North Carolina?”

Rey grimaced. “Meeting Betsy was enlightening,” she said. That was true. They’d uncovered a lot more of the conspiracy that hopefully ended in finding a holocron piece somewhere.

“Good, good,” Rose said. “Can you and Solo meet us in half an hour at the clubhouse?”

Was there a good way she could ask to meet them without Kylo being present? “Have you spoken to Ky--Solo yet?”

“No, we thought he was with you.”

Damn. “He’s not,” Rey said. “Look, I can meet you guys in half an hour, but Solo’s not with me.”

Something in the tone of her voice must have caught Rose’s attention. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Did you two have a fight, or something?”

_Or something._ “Everything’s fine,” Rey said. “I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone without waiting for a response. “Deep breaths, Rey,” she told herself. “You’ve been in worse situations. Remember that one time you got into a bar fight with a Melitto? You can handle this.”

Kylo was already waiting when she arrived at the workshop. He barely acknowledged her as she entered, earning them both strange looks from Rey, Poe, and Finn. Apparently, whatever tension they noticed between her and Kylo wasn’t enough to bother them, because they immediately launched into an explanation of what they’d found about the conspiracy.

“There’s a warehouse just outside of Baltimore,” Finn said as he pointed at a map. “You can’t find it on a map because it technically doesn’t exist, but we have reason to believe that the government is keeping top-secret researched locked up in there.”

“How do we get in?” Rey asked.

“We’ve already worked out a plan for that,” said Poe. “Tico and Trooper will wait outside, hacking into all of the security footage, locks, and alarm systems. That way, we can keep the guards from noticing us as we sneak in. We’ll go in late at night, when there’s no one around.”

“We think we’ve mapped out where the research is stored, based on blueprints we found when we hacked into the system,” Finn said.

“How certain are you?” asked Kylo, speaking for the first time since Rey had arrived.

“Certain enough,” said Rose, “but unfortunately, we can’t be 100% certain of anything.”

“Hux said that there was fake information planted along with the real stuff,” Kylo said. “This had better not be some of it.”

Poe, Rose, and Finn looked offended. “Are you saying that we can’t do our jobs?” Poe said.

“No,” Kylo said quickly. “I’m just saying that we need to be careful.”

“Obviously,” Rey muttered. She thought she saw Kylo glance at her out of the corner of her eye, but she refused to look at him.

“Okay, clearly you two have something to work out between yourselves,” Poe said. “Either get it out now, or put it aside until after we’ve completed this operation.” Rey felt her face turn bright red, but neither she nor Kylo said anything. “Fine,” said Poe. “Just don’t let it get in the way of the job. We need to leave for Baltimore by ten tonight. We’ll regroup then.”

 

* * *

 

This spy bantha-shit just got more and more annoying as it went on. If nothing else, Kylo wanted to find the holocron piece just so that they could take their chances and end up in a less annoying universe in the next jump. If the Force had any pity on them, it would bring them back home after this one, and they would both leave for opposite sides of the galaxy and never have to interact ever again. 

Unfortunately, that was unlikely to happen, so Kylo had to suffer in silence as he tried not to think about how closely he and Rey were standing as they sneaked through the warehouse, trying to find the top-secret storage facility.

“I think it’s through here,” Dameron whispered as he pulled out a small portable computer and plugged it into an outlet next to a set of locked double doors that led to an eerily lit room full of long lines of shelves.

“Can you get us in?” Rey whispered.

“Give me a sec,” Dameron said as he plugged in the computer and typed out a series of codes on the machine. Kylo couldn’t keep his fingers from tapping on his leg nervously as he crouched out of sight of a security camera. (Tico and Finn had hacked into the system to keep it turned away from where he, Rey, and Dameron were hiding, but Kylo figured that it didn’t hurt to be too cautious.) There was a beeping noise, and the door slid open. “You’re in,” Dameron whispered, “but be quick. I don’t know how long it’ll be until someone senses the anomaly in the security protocols.”

Without glancing at Rey, Kylo walked quietly into the warehouse. There were rows of long, tall shelves as far as he could see in either direction, and his heart sank as he realized that he had no idea where to start. It was going to take them hours if they had to search through everything.

“Come on,” Rey said. “This way.”

“How do you know where to go?” he asked. They were the first words he’d said to her since they got in the car that morning.

She pointed at a sign hanging above them. “That’s how,” she said.

_Damn,_ thought Kylo. _I really_ am _bad at reading signs._

He followed her down a long column of shelves, stopping at one that caught Rey’s eye. “‘Sculder, Rey,’” she whispered. “And look. ‘Solo, Ben.’ What are files on us doing in a top-secret government storage facility?"

“It’s got to be the holocron piece,” Kylo said as he reached for the file with his name on it as Rey reached for hers.

Kylo scanned through the sheets of paper as quickly as he could in the dim lighting of the warehouse, but it didn’t contain any useful information. There was a profile of him, but he didn’t want to know how this universe’s Ben Solo had ended up in the position he was in here. (He doubted that he would have earned himself a government job if he’d killed his father here.) No holocron piece, though.

He looked up at Rey to see if she’d found anything in her file. She was holding a small tube, frowning at it. “What is it?” he asked. “That doesn’t look like the holocron piece.”

“It isn’t,” she said. “I don’t know what it is.” She handed Kylo the tube and looked down at the file. He held it up, trying to get a closer look at the strange substance inside. What could it possibly be?

He heard Rey choke, and he looked up, surprised. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I know what’s in the tube,” she said. “Genetic material.”

Kylo frowned. “What?”

“Apparently, the, uh, kidnapping thing that happened to me here…” She held up the file for him. “They surgically harvested my eggs.”

Kylo threw the tube back at her as if just by touching it, he’d get her pregnant. He was suddenly having flashbacks to the universe where they’d had children together. “What the fuck,” he said.

“I’m not going to let myself think too much about it,” Rey said as she closed the file. “Come on. The holocron piece isn’t here. Let’s get out of here before--” The shrieking of sirens cut Rey’s words short, and without another word, she and Kylo took off running back to where Dameron was waiting.

 

* * *

 

Rey didn’t let herself relax until they were halfway back to DC. “All that, and we didn’t even find what we were looking for,” she said. 

“But you uncovered more of the conspiracy,” said Rose. “Isn’t that enough?” 

“Not for what we’re after,” Kylo grumbled. Rey got the sense that he was even more horrified than she was by the fact that her genetic material had been harvested and locked in a warehouse somewhere. In a way, she was almost a little grateful that it had taken their attention away from the dream. Being frustrated by the dead end of the holocron piece hunt in a warehouse was _infinitely_ preferable to being frustrated by the weird tension of a shared sex dream.

“So what now?” asked Rey. “Where do we look next?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Poe. “Do you have any case notes that might help?”

“All of our case files are in the office,” said Kylo.

“Guess that’s where we’re going next,” said Rey.

“At this time of night?” said Finn, pointing at the clock. “It’s half past three in the morning. Go home, get some rest, and go back in the morning. You’ll raise too much suspicion if you’re poking around your office right now.”

“He’s right,” said Rey, looking up at Kylo. “Besides, I’m exhausted.” She also needed a few Kylo-free hours, but she wasn’t going to admit that to anyone.

She went home and slept for a few hours before she woke up to a phone ringing. “Hello?” she mumbled into the phone.

“Sculder? Why aren’t you in the office?” Hux? What was Hux doing on the phone? Who was he in this universe?

“Uh,” she said. “I was sick this morning?”

“Well, get in here when you can,” he said. “There’s something you need to see.” He hung up the phone without waiting for a response, and Rey pushed herself up and out of bed. The clock read 9:56 AM. Well, five hours of sleep was better than nothing.

Forty minutes later, Rey was in the elevator down to the basement office she shared with Kylo. (The clothes that she always wore in this version of this universe were more formal than what she usually wore in other versions of this universe, but she’d had plenty of practice walking in flimsy shoes by now.)

“Why did Hux call me this morning?” she said by way of greeting to Kylo.

“He’s our boss,” Kylo said. “And he’s a bit strange here.”

“Isn’t he always strange?”

“True,” said Kylo, “but usually he doesn’t break into my apartment to leave me cryptic messages about not trusting people. I am so _sick_ of this conspiracy shit.”

“What? When did that happen?”

“Yesterday,” he said as he stood up. “Come on. Since the warehouse was a bust, let’s sort through this stuff.” He indicated the piles of files, boxes, and papers that covered the office, and Rey had to hold back a groan.

“Why are we so messy in this universe?” she asked as she knelt down next to a box and started sorting through it.

“Too busy trying to--” He paused and looked at the ceiling around him. Rey gave him a confused look.

“To what?” she said, but he held up a finger to his lips. _What?_ she asked silently, letting her mental shields down a little bit so that they could talk and praying that nothing private would slip through to him.

_I almost forgot. There are bugs everywhere,_ he said. _Haven’t you been listening to literally every warning someone’s given us?_

_Right. ‘The walls have ears.’_

_Don’t say anything aloud that you don’t want anyone else to hear,_ he said.

Rey barely let herself think, let alone speak aloud, things that she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “You take that box, and I’ll take this one,” she said aloud, snapping her shields back in place.

The spent the next three hours going through boxes of case files and evidence, but all they found were photos of “possible alien sightings” and recordings of people talking about their “alien abductions.” This universe was so _weird_ about aliens. Even on a backwater planet like Jakku, they’d had more than a single race of sentient beings running around. Rey couldn’t understand it.

There were a couple of boxes stacked in the back of the office that were stacked somewhat precariously. Rey figured that it would be a good idea to take them down and go through them before the boxes fell and caused even more mess.

“What are you doing?” Kylo asked as she reached up to take one of the boxes down.

“Taking these before they fall over and spill everywhere,” she said as she tried to get a grip on the box. Rey wasn’t short, but they were stacked on a high shelf, and she didn’t trust the structure not to fall on her.

“Let me help you with that,” Kylo said as he stood up.

“I’ve got it,” she said sharply. She didn’t want his help with this.

“Let me help,” he said again as he walked over to the shelf.

“I said I’ve got--” Rey cursed as the box slipped and the contents spilled all over the ground.

“You should have let me help,” Kylo said as he stepped back to look at the pile of papers and tapes that had just fallen. Rey glared at him, but she looked down at the ground as soon as she saw the expression on his face.

She understood as soon as she realized what she was looking at. “Kylo,” she said slowly. “What the _fuck_ are a bunch of pornographic photos and tapes doing in a box in this office?” _Kriffing hell. This Force spell just won’t STOP._  

“I, uh,” he said, his eyes as wide as saucers. If Rey hadn’t been so embarrassed, she would have laughed at how flustered he was. “Ifoundtheholocronpiece.” He pointed at something on the ground, and Rey knelt down to inspect it. There, buried among the smutty photos, was the missing holocron piece. 

“For kriff’s sake,” Rey muttered as she picked it up. “We can’t find it in a top-secret government facility, but we can find it in a box of pornography?” _This is literally the worst thing that has ever happened to me._

“Can we just go?” Kylo said quickly, whipping the holocron out of his pocket. “Please.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Rey said as they lowered the piece into the holocron. _Fuck this place._

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

 “I’ve had some news,” Leia said as they ate breakfast. “Someone finally moved in to the Netherfield House, and town gossip says that they’re rich. You know what that means,” she said, looking meaningfully at the group.

“You want to marry us off for money?” Finn said in a hushed voice.

“Of course,” said Leia. “As you all know, Resistance House is short on funds. And since all of you are young and single, it’s your job to find rich spouses to keep us going.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl the bit with the songs on the radio was probably my favorite scenes of this fic to write so far.
> 
> This has been cobbled together from a number of different TXF episodes from different seasons because I wanted to capture so many different elements from the show, so if you’re sitting there going ‘I don’t remember this episode,’ that’s why.
> 
> For those of you who aren’t familiar with The X-Files: Mulder’s (Kylo) pornography collection is a bit of a running joke throughout the show (with the implication that he’s too obsessed with his job to ever go out and date or get laid). Which worked out too perfectly with this fic to ignore. And the government harvesting Scully’s (Rey’s) eggs as part of their ridiculous “let’s create alien-human hybrids” experiment is also canon to TXF. It’s a strange show. I love it.
> 
> Rey and Kylo’s “The most awkward car ride in the history of car rides” playlist:  
> [Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A Lot](https://youtu.be/_JphDdGV2TU)  
> [The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang](https://youtu.be/xat1GVnl8-k)  
> [I Touch Myself by The Divinyls](https://youtu.be/wv-34w8kGPM)  
> [NPR’s “Car Talk” show](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510208/car-talk)


	14. Pride & Force-sensitives (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a supreme leader in possession of a powerful command of the Force must be in want of his equal in the Force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can pry my "everyone in space is bisexual" headcanon from my cold, dead fingers.
> 
> Side note, my first draft of this tried to shove a bonus mob AU in the middle of it...not sure where _that_ came from, but I couldn’t make it fit in part II of this AU, so I cut it. It deserves to stand on its own anyway, so keep an eye out for that in the future if you’re interested. I’ve got it outlined and I plan to start writing it as soon as I finish writing DtAURH. I’ll link to it here when I start posting it, and [here's](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com/post/173447064152/so-im-still-finishing-up-down-the-au-rabbit) a teaser on tumblr if you're interested.

“Rey! Breakfast!”

Rey blinked awake. She liked waking up somewhere just in time for a meal, but that also usually meant that she had to figure out how to dress properly, which was easier said than done in some universes. Luckily, the clothing she had in this universe seemed relatively straightforward. The undergarments were a bit strange, but at this point, she’d come across so many different types that she figured that however she’d arranged them was good enough. The dress was a surprisingly comfortable simple cotton dress that covered her in fabric from head to toe. Not the most comfortable garment for moving in, but it was better than some things she’d worn in different universes.

Rey was surprised to see Leia sitting at the head of the table with Poe, Finn, Rose, and Connix sitting along the sides of it. There was an empty plate on the table next to Finn, and Rey slid into that seat. Leia, Rose, and Connix were all wearing variations of the dress that Rey wore, but Finn and Poe were wearing jackets and trousers that seemed much more complicated than the simple dress Rey was wearing. She stifled a grin at the thought of Kylo wearing the same sort of stuffy clothing.

“I’ve had some news,” Leia said as they ate breakfast. “Someone finally moved in to the Netherfield House, and town gossip says that they’re rich. You know what that means,” she said, looking meaningfully at the group.

“You want to marry us off for money?” Finn said in a hushed voice.

“Of course,” said Leia. “As you all know, Resistance House is short on funds. And since all of you are young and single, it’s your job to find rich spouses to keep us going.”

_What._

Leia frowned slightly as something occurred to her. “We have a problem, though” she said. “We haven’t had the opportunity to be formally introduced to them, which means that we may never be invited to get to know them further!”

“Already done,” said Connix with a grin. “I went and introduced myself yesterday as they were moving in. They’re having a ball to celebrate their arrival in Alderaan on Friday, and they invited us.”

“Oh, wonderful!” said Leia. “That will give us plenty of opportunity to gather as much intel as possible.”

What was a ball, and why were they in a place called ‘Alderaan’? “What will this entail?” Rey said, speaking for the first time.

“Oh, the usual,” said Connix. “We all dress up, be on our best behavior, and try to charm the pants off of the new arrivals in town, but not literally because of modesty concerns, in hopes that they’ll encourage further association between their family and ours.”

Right. Rey could do that. And, knowing the logic of these universes, that was where Kylo would be. And she could have plenty of space from him until then. She was still feeling uncomfortable with everything that had happened in the FBI universe. (Seriously, _why_ was there a box of pornography in that office?)

It was probably the best place that Rey had woken up in a while. The clothing wasn’t terrible, there was plenty of food, and things were really relaxed in the house. Sure, she had to help out with running the house, but a little bit of cooking and cleaning was nothing compared to some of what she’d endured other places. And the best part was, _no Kylo._ She knew that he was around somewhere and that they’d eventually cross paths, but having space from him was such a relief. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she encountered a problem, but she was determined to make the peace last as long as she could.

 

* * *

 

Kylo hated the clothes from this universe, but at least the house was nice. Of course, the house also came with Hux and Phasma (he’d almost forgotten what she looked like without a helmet) as his roommates, but this Hux was a much better Hux than some of the Huxes he had encountered. Kylo had yet to figure out why Hux’s personality varied so much in each universe. He didn’t like having to guess whether he was a friend or enemy in each new universe he was dropped into. 

“The house is almost ready to host everyone for the ball tonight,” Hux said. “I’m so excited to meet our new neighbors.” 

“You aren’t afraid of them stumbling upon some things they shouldn’t?” said Phasma as she adjusted her jewelry. “We don’t know any of these people. What if they’re just a bunch of gold diggers?”

“Nonsense,” said Hux. “It’ll be more suspicious if we _don’t_ make an effort to get to know our new neighbors. I’m sure that none of them are so vulgar as to, as you put it ‘dig for gold.’”

“If you say so,” Phasma said as she inspected her dress one last time. “Now come on. Guests will start arriving soon.”

Kylo didn’t quite understand exactly what “hosting a ball” entailed, but he figured that Rey would probably show up at some point, and they could figure out where to go from there. He knew that she was somewhere in this universe, but he wasn’t in the biggest rush to find her. He still wasn’t ready to deal with the fact that it was getting harder and harder to hide his feelings from her. (Clearly, the shared dream had originated from his brain. She’d made it pretty damn clear how much she hated him.)

The good thing about being new to this town (‘Alderaan’? Really?) was that Kylo wasn’t expected to know anyone besides Hux and Phasma, so he didn’t have to worry about faking any sort of friendship with people he’d never met before. He was already completely lost, so he tried to stay out of the way, hiding along the back wall of the ballroom. (“Balls” in this universe involved dancing. He was relieved; “balls” were something _completely_ different in other universes he’d visited.)

Kylo knew that Rey had arrived as soon as he felt the proximity of her Force signature, accompanied by another familiar signature. _Oh no_ , he thought. Of _course_ Rey was with his mother. He would have bet a hundred credits that there were more familiar faces from the Resistance with them, too.

Still, he hung out against the wall, trying to stay out of the way. At least, that was the plan until he spotted Hux dancing with Poe Dameron _._ That was a sight that Kylo couldn’t unsee. He knew that Rey was nearby, but he didn’t make an effort to go look for her. Not yet. Not while she was with his mother. He didn’t know which would be worse, having to talk to his mother while she was her actual self, or having to talk to her while she was some weird version of herself where she may or may not have known him.

“Why aren’t you dancing?” Phasma said as she slid up to where Kylo was lurking. “There are plenty of good-looking people here tonight.”

“I don’t dance,” Kylo said firmly.

“Loosen up,” Phasma said. “It’s a party. We’re here to have fun.” She pointed off at someone Kylo couldn’t see. “Ask her to dance. She’s gorgeous.” Kylo turned to see where Phasma was pointing and locked eyes with Rey. He opened his mouth to say something to Phasma, but she just pushed him in the direction of Rey. He didn’t think that Phasma was going to let it drop, and he knew that sooner or later he’d need to talk to Rey anyway. 

“Will you dance with me?” he asked, conscious of Phasma listening. _Stay in character,_ he tried to tell her. He didn’t know if she’d heard him, but she nodded and took his hand.

“I don’t know any of these dances,” she said.

“Follow my lead,” Kylo told her.

“You know how to dance?” She sounded skeptical.

Kylo blushed. “My mother made me take ballroom dance lessons when I was a kid,” he muttered. “These dances are surprisingly similar to the ones I had to learn.”

Rey looked like she was fighting to keep a smile off her face. Kylo realized that if he knew how to dance, she did, too, if she accessed his memories. _Man. This Force bond thing just gets weirder and weirder,_ he thought.

“You’re telling me,” Rey murmured as they stepped out onto the dance floor.

Kylo shouldn’t have been surprised as how easily they danced together given how easily they fought together, but he was. Which was scary in a way, because there was a sort of intimacy there that he’d never experienced with anyone else, and there was no way he’d be able to explain why his heart was pounding so hard if she noticed. Fortunately, these dances were choreographed with modesty in mind, so it wasn’t like he had to hold Rey close to him the entire time, unlike other styles of dance. That helped keep the awkwardness at bay.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked, sounding a little breathless. “The holocron piece must be around here somewhere. Is it here?”

Kylo shook his head. “I haven’t seen it,” he said. “But this place is huge. It could easily be hiding somewhere. I haven’t had much opportunity to look. Hux and Phasma won’t leave me alone.”

“Hux and _Phasma_?” Rey asked.

“You probably wouldn’t recognize her without the chrome armor,” Kylo said. “She’s tall and blonde. She’s prettier than you’d expect for the person in charge of the stormtrooper program,” he added as an afterthought. He didn’t understand the look that flashed across Rey’s face, but she didn’t say anything.

Kylo wanted to ask about his mother, but he couldn’t figure out what exactly he wanted to know. Did she know who he was in this universe? What was her role in this? He opened his mouth to ask, but Rey spotted something over his shoulder and made a face.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Why is Poe dancing with _Hux_?” she asked, sounding disgusted.

“That is a very good question,” said Kylo. “I don’t think I want to know the answer.”

The dance ended, and Rey and Kylo made a silent agreement to try to look for the holocron piece in the house as subtlely as they could manage while everyone was distracted with the dance. Unfortunately, neither of them could accomplish much; the ball ended not long after they finished dancing, and Kylo had been preoccupied with avoiding Leia.

“Wow, what a night,” Hux said as soon as the last guests left.

“You were quite busy dancing with that young man,” teased Phasma.

Hux blushed, which was a strange look on such a normally stoic face. “He is quite agreeable,” he said. “He lives with that big family. The mother was a bit strange--” Kylo had to hold back a grimace “--but Mr Dameron was so polite to talk to, and so easy to dance with. I would like to get to know him better.”

“He came here with the only person that Mr Ren danced with all night,” Phasma said, smirking at Kylo. He almost didn’t recognize the way that she addressed him. _Mr Ren_? It was not only weird to be called ‘mister,’ but it had been so long since Kylo had been in a universe that used his chosen name--his _First Order_ name--that he was shocked to hear it. He’d been expecting to be called ‘Mr Solo,’ if anything. He found that he didn’t like that he’d gone back to being ‘Kylo Ren.’

“Ah yes, the lovely Miss Bennett,” Hux said. “Tell us, what’s she like? Is she as charming as Mr Dameron?”

_Miss Bennett? That must be Rey._ “Sure,” he said. “Charming. Yes.”

“Wow,” said Phasma. “Someone actually meets Mr Ren’s standards? It’s a miracle.”

Kylo felt his face heat up. It wasn’t like it was a lie. Rey was the only person he’d ever felt anything like this for. “She’s nice,” he said. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” He left before Phasma and Hux could say anything more about it.

 

* * *

 

Leia was beside herself with joy when Poe received an invitation from Hux to visit Netherfield House. “Oh, this is wonderful news!” she said. “This gives you the perfect opportunity to infiltrate our new neighbors and learn everything you can about them.” 

“Yeah,” said Poe, blushing. “Infiltrating. That’s definitely the only motivation I have in accepting this invitation.”

“You must accompany him, Rey, dear,” said Leia.

“Me?” said Rey. “Why me?” She had planned on staying and hunting for the holocron piece in her house. Kylo could handle his house.

“You were the only person that Mr Ren danced with all night,” said Leia. “Clearly, he likes you, which provides us with another opportunity to try to marry one of you off.”

Rey felt her face heat up. There was no way to explain the actual reason that Kylo had danced with her. But she couldn’t change Leia’s mind, and so she found herself packed up and ready to stay with Kylo, Hux, and Phasma for a few days.

Which led her to this moment. “R--Miss Bennett?” Kylo said as Rey and Poe walked into the drawing room, led by a servant. He turned to look at Hux. “I thought you said that only Mr Dameron was visiting,” he said. 

“Miss Bennett, how lovely to see you again,” a tall blonde woman said. _This must be Phasma,_ Rey thought. Kylo was right. She _was_ prettier than Rey would have expected for the leader of the stormtrooper program. She didn’t like the twinge of jealousy she had felt when he’d said that. “We’re so glad both you and Mr Dameron can stay with us for a few days.”

Rey and Kylo made a silent agreement to regroup later as a servant led Rey and Poe to the rooms they’d be staying in while they were visiting. Rey couldn’t shut down her scavenger instincts to take anything from the room that looked like it might bring in portions. Even after all this time, she still thought in those terms. She wondered if that instinct would ever completely go away.

The hunt for the holocron piece was hindered by the emphasis put on “modesty” in this universe. Rey wasn’t allowed to be alone in room with anyone except Poe, and that was only because she was his “foster sister.” There needed to be a third person to “chaperone” them at any given point in time. And since she and Kylo couldn’t talk about their holocron piece hunt when there was someone else around, there was little opportunity to talk. She didn’t like having to communicate via the Force bond--there were _so many_ confusing feelings she was trying to hold back--but they didn’t have a lot of opportunity to do otherwise.

Not to mention the distraction that their companions provided. Rey could barely contain her horror at the fact that Poe and Hux seemed to actually _like_ each other (not just for “infiltration” purposes), nor could she quite handle the way that Phasma seemed to talk to her. She wasn’t comfortable being on the receiving end of so many compliments, and she _especially_ wasn’t comfortable being on the receiving end of compliments from the captain of the First Order stormtrooper program _._

“I think Phasma likes you,” Kylo murmured one night after dinner.

“No way,” said Rey.

“I think she’s going to propose,” he added. Rey realized with a jolt that he was teasing her. The thought made her feel oddly warm.

“We don’t have time for this,” she said before she could think about the warm feeling too much. “There are too many eyes here.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said. “I’ve been searching for days.”

“And how far has that gotten you?”

He scowled. _Not far enough,_ Rey thought.

“My dear Miss Bennett,” Phasma said, interrupting the conversation. “Would you do me the honor of taking a turn around the ballroom with me?”

Rey frowned. Would she _what_?

_See,_ Kylo said. _Told you so._

_Shut up._

In truth, Rey was glad for the excuse to end the conversation with Kylo. Things were changing between them, and she didn’t like it. She found herself wanting to call him ‘Ben’ more and more, and she wasn’t sure why. She knew that he didn’t want her calling him that, and she couldn’t even find it in her to call him that just to piss him off.

 

* * *

 

Kylo would never admit it to Rey, but he was secretly glad that they weren’t allowed to be alone in a room together. Sure, it made it very difficult for them to hunt for the holocron piece together, but he could handle searching the house on his own. He _couldn’t_ handle the idea of having a serious conversation with Rey. 

Also, it was really funny watching Phasma try to make a move on Rey.

Well, it was funny until the third day of Rey and Poe’s stay at the house. Kylo had pretty much completely ignored Poe and Hux as they made doe eyes at each other, but Rey had started to warm up to Phasma, and she seemed more and more comfortable spending time with Phasma instead of with Kylo. He knew that it was probably his fault for teasing her about it (and for telling her that he didn’t need her help searching the house, which was a total lie; the house was _huge_ ), but that didn’t mean that he was comfortable with the situation.

Not that he could blame Rey for wanting to spend more time with Phasma than with him. Phasma complimented Rey endlessly, and all Kylo had ever done was insult her. He seemed trapped in this stupid cycle of insulting Rey, being pissed off that she didn’t like him, and acting like he didn’t care by insulting her even further. All the while, he wished that she hadn’t stopped calling him ‘Ben.’ And he didn’t even know _why._

All in all, Kylo couldn’t help but be relieved when Poe and Rey’s stay at the house ended, and they packed up and went back to their house.

“We should stay away from them,” Kylo said as soon as Poe and Rey had left. “They’re bad news for us.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Hux. “I think I’m in love with Mr Dameron.”

“Miss Bennett is quite wonderful as well,” Phasma said dreamily.

“Listen to yourselves!” Kylo shouted. “Look at us, the leaders of the First Order. And you’re acting like a bunch of lovesick teenagers!”

“You know, it’s your own damn fault if you’re jealous,” said Phasma. “Just because you can’t get your head out of your own ass to admit that Miss Bennett is the most wonderful woman in the world doesn’t mean you can take our happiness away from us.”

“That is _not_ what--” Kylo growled as he felt his face heat up. “Just trust me on this one,” he said. “They’re bad news. Besides, don’t we have to get back to London for work? I thought you said our ‘vacation’ here was nearly over.”

Hux sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s just been so nice to be able to relax and get to know such a wonderful man.”

“Of course I’m right,” growled Kylo. “I’m always right.” This felt more familiar, arguing with Hux. It was the only familiar thing in Kylo’s life at that particular moment, and he couldn’t help but latch on to it. “Pack your things. We need to leave as soon as possible tomorrow morning.”

Everyone went to bed in a bad mood that night. Kylo couldn’t stop tossing and turning, trying to figure out what was bothering him so much. It wasn’t purely jealousy, was it? And if so, what was he jealous of? Rey didn’t like him. She’d never indicated that she liked him. Sure, they worked together well when they actually got along, but...being able to fight or dance well together didn’t mean anything. And anyway, that was just the result of the stupid Force bond between them. Which was just another mistake Kylo had made, when he’d kidnapped her and tried (unsuccessfully) to interrogate her. 

Kriff. What a mess.

By the early hours of the morning, Kylo had given up on sleep. Insomnia wasn’t an unusual thing for him, anyway. He knew he needed to talk to Rey, and it couldn’t wait any longer. He had been pushing to go to London, but he realized that he had no idea how far that was from Alderaan (again: why ‘Alderaan’?), which meant that he didn’t know when he’d be able to see her again. He had no idea what he was going to say to Rey when he saw her, but he figured he had the entire walk to her house to figure it out.

The sun had risen by the time he was coming up on Rey’s house, and he tried contacting her over the Force bond.

_What is it?_ she asked. _It’s early._

_We need to talk,_ he said. _Come outside._ He thought he heard a mental groan, but a few minutes later, she was sneaking out the front door, wrapped in some sort of robe.

“This couldn’t wait?” she said by way of greeting.

“We’re heading to London today,” he said. “I had to talk to you before we left.”

“London?” They’d visited the city in another universe, but neither of them knew how far it was from Alderaan. “For how long?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “But…” He thought he’d figured out what he wanted to say to her, but now that she was standing in front of him, he was at a loss for words.

“What is it, Kylo?” she said after a minute. “Spit it out before someone comes out and ‘chaperones’ us.”

“Why did you stop calling me ‘Ben’?” It wasn’t anything he’d thought about asking on the walk over, but it suddenly seemed like the most important question he had.

Rey’s face moved quickly from confused to annoyed. “Seriously?” she said. “You dragged me out here to ask me _that_?”

“It’s important,” he said. “I have to know.”

Rey groaned and threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Are you kidding me?” she said. “You were the one who said, and I quote, ‘Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.’ You told me that Ben Solo was dead.”

That didn’t answer his question. “Why did you give up on me?”

She glared at him. “Why did _I_ give up on you? Kylo, you gave up on _yourself_. I can’t save you. It is _not_ my job to save you, _especially_ when you don’t bother trying to save yourself.”

“You are the only person who’s ever even _looked_ at me like I was worthy of being something better than Snoke’s shadow. Hell, even my kriffing _parents_ gave up on me! I spent _years_ trying and repeatedly failing to measure up to someone else’s standards and you were the first person who _ever_ acted like I didn’t need to do that.” 

“For kriff’s sake, Kylo!” she shouted. “Make up your fucking mind about who you want to be. I can’t do it for you. You want to stop being Kylo Ren? Fine. Stop acting like you’re incapable of being a better person. But don’t you _dare_ blame it on me. I was wrong when I thought I could save you on the Supremacy. Only you can save yourself. And you’re not even _trying_ to do that! We’re only here because for all your ‘let the past die,’ you couldn’t actually let go of the idea that your only path in life was to be a carbon copy of Darth Vader and that I needed to be at your side as your, I don’t know, ‘apprentice’ or whatever.” She took a deep breath, then added, “If you can’t even think of yourself as ‘Ben,’ why should I?”

Kylo--Ben--didn’t know what to say to that. He was still trying to figure out what he wanted to say when someone opened the front door to Rey’s house and called her back inside. She gave him the same look she’d given him when they’d connected on Crait, then walked away without another word.

 

* * *

 

_Next time..._

“What about you?” 

“Me?” Rey was surprised by the question.

“How have you been? Something happened at Netherfield House, either with you and Miss Phasma or you and Mr Ren.” Poe winked at her. “Leia would be really happy if she knew you were playing the odds like that.”

“It’s not like that,” said Rey. How the kriff had she ended up in a fake love triangle with Ben and _Phasma_?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe I hadn’t found a good way to work Phasma in before this AU.
> 
> There are a lot of italics here. And more angst than you usually see in crackfic. (Look at that, it’s the mysterious plot!) I hate to leave on such an angsty note, but these two nerfherders had some shit they desperately needed to get off their chests. I’m posting a bonus fluffy drabble tomorrow as an apology to myself and anyone else who needs a breather from the angst.
> 
> Recommended viewing, if you want a good (non-Star Wars) modern P&P AU: [The Lizzie Bennett Diaries](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_ePOdU-b3xcDyyzeR5NjxeLEElsqYzn1). It's all available for free on YouTube and it is delightful.


	15. Movie night!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 100% pure, tooth-rotting fluff in modern AU form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, my "i'm sorry about the angst" apology drabble to make up for the fact that P&P (I) is angsty as hell by my standards. Takes place at some point between “The Truth is out there (II)” and “Price and Force-sensitives (I).” If you’re reading this on Tuesday or Wednesday, don’t forget to go back and read “Pride and Force-sensitives (I)” before I post part II on Thursday.

Rey had never had access to holofilms like this before. Sorry, _movies._ They were called ‘movies’ here. And even though they weren’t her versions of her friends, the Finn, Poe, and Rose of this universe were so nice that she didn’t mind being stuck here for one more night. Besides, it was another opportunity to avoid B-- _Kylo_. Tomorrow, they’d move on to a new universe. She’d found the holocron piece that afternoon in a drawer along with a _delightful_ vibrating device that she wanted to replicate when she got home. If she ever got home. (No, she couldn’t think about it like that. She _would_ get home.)

“So which movie did we decide on? _The Avengers_ or _Mean Girls_?” Poe asked as he held up two DVD containers.

“Mean Girls,” said Rose at the same time as Rey said “The Avengers.”

Poe looked at Finn. “I think you’re the deciding vote,” he said.

Finn sighed. “You all know that I vote for _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.”

“That’s a TV show, isn’t it?” said Rose.

“No, I’m talking about the 1992 movie,” said Finn. “It’s terrible.”

1992\. That was in the same decade she’d been in with the FBI universe, which reminded her of Kylo, who was the last person she wanted to think about. Even though there had been no more shared dreams (to her extreme relief), she’d caught herself thinking a _lot_ about it, which was leading to a series of related dreams (and daydreams), hence her gratitude for the vibrating device she owned in this universe. It was too bad she probably couldn’t take it with her when they moved on to the next universe. “I change my vote,” Rey said quickly. “ _Mean Girls_ is okay.”

Finn raised an eyebrow. “What have you got against 1992?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Rey said quickly. “I’m just in the mood for--what kind of movie is _Mean Girls,_ again?”

Rose laughed. “Rey, we’ve seen it a million times,” she said. “It’s a classic high school comedy.”

“Yes,” said Rey. “I’m in the mood for that.” _No Kylo. No 1992. No thinking. Just classic high school comedy_. _Whatever that means._

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile in another part of town Kylo, Hux, Phasma, and Mitaka were having a movie night of their own.

“Dibs on the kettle corn,” said Phasma as Hux pulled out three bags of popcorn.

“Nobody likes kettle corn except you,” he said as he handed her the bag.

“Aw, you bought it just for me?” she said. Kylo thought he could detect a faint blush on her cheeks. He still hadn’t figured out if they were together in this universe or not.

“What are the movie options for tonight?” Mitaka asked as he nervously took a handful of popcorn from the bag labeled ‘white cheddar.’ (Kylo got the impression that he was the punching bag of the group, which was actually pretty accurate with respect to his home universe.)

“ _Gone With the Wind, When Harry Met Sally, Grease, Bridget Jones Diary,_ and _The Wizard of Oz._ ”

Phasma wrinkled her nose. “Has anyone ever told you that you have shit taste in movies?”

“I’ll have you know that these are _classic_ films,” Hux said primly. “Aren’t they, Kylo?”

 _Kriff._ Kylo had never heard of any of those films. “Yes?” he said, mentally cursing as he realized he’d turned an answer into a question, earning him glares from Phasma and Hux. _The Wizard of Oz_ caught his attention, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it had any connection of the Oz that he and Rey had visited.

 _No Rey,_ he reminded himself. The point of accepting Hux’s invitation to ‘movie night’ was so that he could avoid Rey and avoid thinking about her for one evening. He would have liked to extend that to “avoid thinking about her for a whole night,” but ever since that shared dream, his subconscious had been plaguing him with a series of X-rated dreams about Rey. Thank the Force that none of them appeared to be shared dreams, and any time they interacted, she seemed to have no idea that she had become the subject of a number of _very_ hot dreams. He’d never been so sexually frustrated in his entire life, but at least now he had the space to, uh, take the edge off without a creepy abusive mentor figure lurking in the back of his mind.

Phasma groaned. “You’re just taking his side because you’re afraid he’ll murder you in your sleep one of these nights.”

“I can take care of myself,” Kylo said as Hux and Mitaka burst into laughter.

“Whatever,” she said. “What’s your vote?”

Kylo had never heard of any of those films. “Grease,” he said at random.

“You would,” muttered Hux. “You and your love of musicals.”

 _Musicals?_ He’d never heard of that kind of holofilm before. It must have been something that he didn’t have in his universe. Hopefully it was a good kind of surprise. He liked it when he discovered something new that he’d never had at home. It was like the silver lining to being stuck in this alternative universe hell. Which had been getting better until that _stupid_ shared dream and the weird forehead kiss that he was certain had triggered it. He’d had no idea what Rey had been thinking when she’d done that, but Kylo was certain that it was the reason his mind had generated that dream _and_ thought to let his mental shields down enough to share it with Rey. Because there was _no_ way that anything like that would ever have originated from her mind.

Was there?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hux has no idea what the word ‘classic’ actually means, but can you imagine the First Order doing a ship-wide movie night and playing _When Harry Met Sally_? Or better yet, _Mean Girls_?


	16. Pride and Force-sensitives (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben actually lets the past die and is ‘Kylo Ren’ no more. Rey doesn’t know what to think. Phasma asks a question. Hux cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys once again for your comments and kudos! You are all wonderful and I love hearing what you think of this :)
> 
> I have no idea how long it takes to go by carriage between different towns in England (not to mention the fact that Alderaan and Naboo are fictional places), so we’re going to pretend that the travel times here make sense.

Rey was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. And the day after that. And the week after that. And after a month of silently fuming and nearly biting the head off of anyone who tried to take the last serving of food at each meal, Leia finally pulled her aside.

“What’s wrong, dear?” she asked Rey. “You’ve been so unhappy ever since you and Poe returned from Netherfield. Did something happen?”

There was no possible way she could explain the situation to Leia, not just because she didn’t know how to explain the stuff that didn’t fit in this universe, but also because it was too weird to discuss with Kylo’s--Ben’s--mother.

When Rey didn’t respond, Leia continued. “Something must have happened,” she said. “Poor Poe has barely heard a word from Mr Hux ever since the three of them returned to London. And to think, they left so quickly, without a word! How terribly rude of them.”

Rey felt a twinge of guilt. Sure, he wasn’t _her_ Poe, but he was still Poe. And he was really upset about getting ghosted by Hux, Phasma, and Ky-- _Ben_.

“I don’t know what happened,” Rey said bitterly. “They’re just a bunch of dicks.”

Leia tsked. “Well, that’s no good,” she said. “We still need to find a way to bring money into this household.” Rey didn’t know what to say to that, but Leia seemed to be thinking aloud. “I have a friend in Naboo,” she said. (Rey doubted that it was the Naboo she was familiar with.) “He might be able to take you and Poe in for some time. Naboo is a much bigger, livelier town. There are more gatherings and more opportunities for you and Poe to snag rich spouses. I think it will be the perfect thing to break you and Poe out of your doldrums.” She smiled, barely paying attention to Rey’s presence. “Yes, that will do nicely, I think,” she said. 

Rey wasn’t in any particular rush to get out of the house, but she was having no luck with the holocron piece hunt, and she was feeling restless as hell. She was also worried that Ben would come back to Alderaan, and she didn’t want to see him when he did. “When do we leave?” she asked.

 

* * *

 

It had been a month since he’d left Alderaan, and Ben still couldn’t figure out how he felt about the fight with Rey. 

Ben. It was strange to think of himself with that name, after all the time he’d spent trying to run away from it. But he wasn’t Kylo Ren anymore, and he wasn’t Snoke’s apprentice. Hell, he probably wasn’t even the Supreme Leader anymore. (At this point, he was starting to doubt that he and Rey would ever make it back to their own universe, which meant that they were forever doomed to wander from universe to universe, making each other miserable for the rest of their lives.)

If he was being honest with himself, though, he hadn’t been Kylo Ren for a while. Now that he had enough time and space away from his life with the First Order, he was starting to realize just how deep Snoke’s grip on him had gone. Taking back his name felt like the first step in processing that change and the freedom that came with it.

The terrifying thing about freedom, though, was that he had no idea who he was without Snoke’s influence and constant presence in his mind. And he had no idea where to even _start_ figuring that out.

It was probably a good thing that his role in this universe seemed to be “rich for no apparent reason,” because it gave him plenty of time to sit around and process this and wish that he could talk to a therapist. Hux and Phasma were apparently used to ‘Mr Ren’s’ sour demeanor, because neither of them commented on it. They were both busy with their own duties, anyway. (Ben hadn’t quite worked out what their jobs were, but he was too busy thinking about himself to care.)

Neither he nor Rey had tried to reach out through the Force bond. Ben assumed that she was putting as much energy as he was into keeping it closed, which was giving him a constant headache. He didn’t want to know what she was thinking after that fight. And anyway, as far as he was concerned, if they had to be stuck forever someplace, this universe wasn’t terrible. There was no war, and he wasn’t in constant competition with this version of Hux. The clothing style and the whole “chaperone” thing left a little to be desired, but all in all it wasn’t the worst place they’d been.

Ben was doing another round of “sit on the couch, stare out the window, and contemplate all of my terrible life choices that have led to this moment” about a month after they’d left Alderaan when Hux brushed into the room and plopped down on the couch next to him.

“Ren,” Hux said as he slung an arm around Ben’s neck. “I have to tell you, thank you for dragging us away from Alderaan. I can’t believe I nearly proposed to that gold digger Mr Dameron!” He was saying the words in a lighthearted tone, but Ben could sense the hurt underneath. Which was yet another really weird thing coming from Hux.

“Uh,” Ben said. “You’re welcome?”

“I am not upset about the way we ended things at all,” said Hux, “And I am thrilled to be back here in London.”

Ben frowned. “Are you okay?”

Hux tensed for a moment, and then he deflated, leaning into Ben’s shoulder. “No,” he said. “I’m not.”

“What is--are you _crying_?”

“I just miss him so much,” sobbed Hux. “I think I made a huge mistake.”

Ben sighed. “We all fucked up in Alderaan,” he said as he slung an arm over Hux’s shoulders. He was beyond caring about the fact that he was now snuggling with Hux, of all people.

“So what do we do about it?” said Hux.

“We move forward,” said Ben. “We take a vacation. I don’t know.”

“Vacation?” said Hux, sitting up. “Now that you mention it, you do have that house in Naboo…”

Ben really hated that this universe was using names of planets that members of his family were from. “Fuck it,” he said. “Let’s go to Naboo, then. You, me, and Phasma. It’ll be a vacation.”

Hux smiled and wiped the tears off his face. “Naboo. Sounds perfect.”

 

* * *

 

“His name is Mr Mitaka,” said Leia as she sent Rey and Poe off in a carriage. “He’s a friend of the family.” _Mitaka? A friend of Leia’s?_ Rey had a bad feeling about this.

However, the house in Naboo was definitely an upgrade on Resistance House, as much as Rey hated to admit it. It was large and well-lit with huge gardens surrounding the house on all sides. Even Poe started looking a little better when they arrived. Sure, it took an entire day to get there in the primitive carriage, but getting away from the Resistance House was worth the effort. Rey loved her friends, but these versions of her friends weren’t her _actual_ friends, and she couldn’t look at the yard without thinking about that awful fight with Ben.

The worst part about it was that as much as she wanted to hate him and as angry as she was at him, she didn’t actually hate him at all. She didn’t know what she felt for him anymore...and she was afraid to figure it out.

“How are you doing?” she asked Poe as they walked down to the dining room together after settling into their rooms.

“Better, I think,” he said. “Everything still hurts, but I think being here will do me some good.”

Rey smiled at him. “That’s great, Poe,” she said softly.

“What about you?”

“Me?” Rey was surprised by the question.

“How have you been? Something happened at Netherfield House, either with you and Miss Phasma or you and Mr Ren.” He winked at her. “Leia would be really happy if she knew you were playing the odds like that.”

“It’s not like that,” said Rey. How the kriff had she ended up in a fake love triangle with Ben and _Phasma_?

She expected Poe to tease her more about it, but he just gave her a small smile and said, “Whatever you say, Rey.”

Rey was saved from having to respond by their arrival in the dining room. Her jaw dropped when she saw the amount of food on the table. (She really shouldn’t have been surprised to see a table full of food by now, but the concept of having more food than she could eat available was still a little foreign to her.)

“I hope you’re hungry,” someone said from behind them. Rey and Poe whirled around to see Mitaka smiling at them. “Welcome to Gardner House. Miss Rey Bennett and Mr Poe Dameron, I presume?” Rey hadn’t interacted with Mitaka as much as she had with some of the other people from her and Ben’s universe, but he seemed like he genuinely wanted to host them. Rey hoped that the nervous feeling she had in her stomach was just the result of having spent most of the day in a bumpy, primitive vehicle.

“I hope you’re hungry,” said Mitaka as he brushed past them and indicated for them to sit down at the table. “You must be exhausted from your journey from Alderaan.”

“I could eat,” said Rey as she sat down. Mitaka signaled to a servant, and a plate full of food appeared in front of Rey.

“Please enjoy,” Mitaka said with a warm smile. Rey was too busy eating to pay much attention to what Mitaka was saying, but Poe was polite enough to engage in conversation. She dialed back in as soon as she started to slow down. “I’ll have to introduce you to some friends of mine tomorrow,” Mitaka was saying. “They’re all young people like yourselves. They’ve been away in London, but I received word today that they’ve returned to Naboo, and I invited them to call on me tomorrow.”

_Friends from London?_ Rey had a bad feeling about that, too.

Poe expressed enough excitement over the prospect of meeting new people for the both of them. Rey hoped that it was going to be enough to help him get over Hux, because she couldn’t stomach any more of that bizarre pairing.

By the time Rey crawled into bed that evening, she was feeling more apprehensive than she had in a while. She had a bad feeling about the whole situation, but...she also felt like things were going to start moving forwards again. Which had been a long time coming, she realized as she finally drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The house in Naboo was even bigger than the one in Alderaan. Ben’s first thought was _Oh great, even more shit to search through for the holocron piece_ before he remembered that it didn’t matter because he might be stuck in that universe forever if he couldn’t find Rey again. Which was looking likely given how they’d parted ways right before he’d left Alderaan. 

“Mr Mitaka’s already sent us a letter to invite us to visit him tomorrow,” Phasma said happily.

_Mitaka?_ If it was someone from Ben’s universe, they had to be significant. Which meant that maybe…

_Oh, kriff. What if Rey’s here, too?_

“Oh, wonderful!” said Hux. “He can welcome us to town. Maybe he knows when the next ball is going to be. I bet he can get us an invite.”

Ben actually didn’t hate the sound of that as much as he had expected. New-Ben was remembering how much he had liked dancing lessons when he was a kid. “Sounds good,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

And that was how he found himself sitting in a receiving room with Hux, Phasma, Mitaka, Poe, and Rey the next day. “These are the charges of an old friend of mine,” Mitaka said as he introduced Rey and Poe.

“We’ve met,” Poe mumbled.

Mitaka seemed completely oblivious to the tension in the room. Ben couldn’t bring himself to look at Rey, which meant that he had no idea if she was doing the same. They still weren’t ready to see each other after their fight. He wasn’t ready to apologize for blaming her for not ‘saving’ him, and he doubted she was ready to listen to him, either. Ben eventually excused himself, claiming he had “work to do” and rushed out of the room before anyone could stop him.

But then they kept running into Mitaka, Rey, and Poe around town. First it was at the weekly town dance. Which was actually to be expected; it was _the_ social event of the town. Ben and Rey avoided each other as much as they could without being obvious about it. Hux and Poe fell back in love. _At least someone in this house is happy,_ Ben thought as they returned home from a party one night. Phasma and Rey seemed to be getting along, too. Which suited Ben just fine; he doubted that he was in any position to entertain Rey, and Phasma seemed happy enough with their relationship. Ben totally wasn’t jealous _at all._

_“Ben.”_

He blinked awake, trying to figure out if Rey was actually in the room with him, whether she was Force bonding into the room with him, or if he was still dreaming. After a month of avoiding each other, he was probably just dreaming again.

“I’m Force bonding into the room with you,” she answered. He woke up a little more, and snapped his mental shields back into place. There was no way he was going to let Rey into his thoughts. Not while they still weren’t on speaking terms.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he pushed himself up. “What time is it?”

“I have to go back to Alderaan, and I don’t have time to waste,” she said. “I’m sitting in a carriage on my way back now.” That explained the weird bouncing she was doing, Ben realized. Carriage rides were bumpy as hell.

“What’s the rush?” he said. “And why are you telling me this?”

“Something’s happened,” she said. “And I don’t--I don’t want you to think that I’m abandoning you.”

He blinked as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. Rey was...worried about him? She’d never worried about abandoning him before. “What happened?” he said, refusing to question why she was telling him this.

“Mitaka is holding Poe hostage in exchange for money from Leia,” Rey said with a grimace. “I don’t even know if we have the money that he’s asking for. But I had to get out while I could, just in case he decided to try to hold me hostage, too.”

That got Ben’s attention. “Stay where you are,” he said. “I’m coming to find you. I’ll take care of this.”

Rey shook her head. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I’ll figure it out. I just…” Ben thought he saw her cheeks turn red, but it was probably just a trick of the light. “I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.” She cut the Force bond connection, leaving Ben alone in the dark.

_I’m going to kill Mitaka,_ Ben thought as he threw himself out of bed. No matter what Rey had said, he couldn’t sit by and do nothing about this.

By the time Ben made it to Gardner House, Mitaka had already left, taking Poe with him. “They went to Brighton,” the housekeeper said. “It’s so romantic there. They’ll have such a wonderful time.” Clearly, she had no idea what was actually going on, but no matter. Ben barely had enough time to leave a note for Hux and Phasma before he was making arrangements to get to Brighton (wherever the hell that was) to get Poe out of Mitaka’s clutches. He was rich enough to pay the ransom fee off, wasn’t he?

 

* * *

 

Rey was barely holding herself together during the agonizingly long ride back to Alderaan. She didn’t even know where Mitaka had taken Poe. If it had just been her, she wouldn’t have been worried; she knew she could easily overpower Mitaka. But he took Poe, which, according to the stupid modesty rules of this universe, was going to cause a huge scandal on top of the money thing. She was liking this universe less and less as time progressed.

She didn’t care how crazy she looked as the carriage finally pulled up to Resistance House and she all but fell out of it in her hurry to talk to Leia. “Something’s happened!” she shouted as she ran into the house. “Mitaka kidnapped Poe!”

It was all a flurry of activity and planning after that. Rey let herself get completely wrapped up in planning ways to either cobble together enough money to pay off the ransom or run in and rescue Poe. She was so busy that she didn’t have time to consider how much she wished she’d accepted Ben’s offer to help, but she couldn’t bring herself to reach back out to him. Besides, he was probably still trying to block her out. Things were still weird between them. Not that she _needed_ his help, obviously, but...strangely, knowing that he cared enough to offer made Rey’s stomach flutter in a way she didn’t want to examine too closely.

Leia was getting ready to head to Brighton with Rey and Connix three days after news broke about Mitaka’s betrayal when a letter from Poe arrived in the mail.

_Dear Leia and the rest of House Resistance,  
__By now you’ve probably heard that I was kidnapped by the wicked Mr Mitaka and brought to Brighton. But, never fear! I was rescued by a mysterious guardian angel, and I am now on my way back home. I’ve sent this letter ahead so that you may know that I am safe. Mr Mitaka has been arrested, and he can terrorize us no more.  
__I pray that Rey made it out of Naboo safely; Mr Mitaka said that she had escaped before he could go back for her.  
__All my love, Poe_  

“‘A mysterious guardian angel’?” Leia said. “Who could that possibly be?”

Rey frowned. She had told Ben that Poe was in trouble, but there was no way that he…

Was there?

The idea that Ben had stepped in to help Poe made Rey’s heart beat stupidly fast. It was probably wistful thinking on her part, but she couldn’t keep some hopeful part of her brain from wondering. She thought about trying to reach out to him through the Force bond, but...what would she say? What if he hadn’t done anything to help, and she was getting herself all worked up over nothing? Besides, even if he _had_ rescued Poe, there was no way he would have left Mitaka alive, especially if he was still on his whole ‘unredeemable’ thing. (Although, something _had_ changed, because he had started thinking of himself as ‘Ben’ again. But Rey didn’t want to read too much into that, either.)

_It doesn’t matter,_ she told herself as she and the rest of Resistance House eagerly awaited Poe’s return home. _Either way, we’re stuck here._ It had been more than three months and there wasn’t even a hint of a holocron piece, even though they’d both searched everywhere in their respective houses. She’d pretty much given up at that point and accepted the fact that she was going to be stuck in a primitive, modesty-obsessed universe for the rest of her life.

Poe wouldn’t say who had rescued him when he returned home. “I don’t know who it was,” he said, although Rey was pretty sure he was lying with the way he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I told you, it was a mysterious guardian angel who had our best interests at heart.”

It took a week before things finally started to settle down and return to normal, and there was still no sign of Ben, nor had he attempted to contact Rey. She was starting to consider breaking into Netherfield House to continue searching for the holocron piece there when Connix popped into Rey’s room and said told her she had a visitor.

Rey’s heart started pounding, and she could barely keep herself from running out of the house. It was Ben. It had to be. But the blonde woman who greeted her was the last person she expected to see. “Miss Phasma?” Rey asked.

Phasma’s face lit up in a delighted smile. “Miss Bennett,” she said. “I’m so glad I caught you at home.”

“What are you doing here?” Rey asked. “I thought you, Mr Hux, and Mr Ren were in Naboo.”

“Oh, we just got back to Alderaan,” said Phasma. “Mr Ren came here straight from Brighton, but Mr Hux and I were in Naboo until yesterday.”

Ben had been in Brighton? “What was B--Mr Ren doing in Brighton?” Rey asked as casually as she could manage.

“He said something about helping a friend,” said Phasma. “He left Naboo in such a rush that he didn’t even wait around to say goodbye to us in person. He just left a letter. Terribly rude of him, but we’re such good friends that Mr Hux and I weren’t offended.”

Ben. Helping a friend. In Brighton.

Rey _had_ to speak to him. But first, she had to extract herself from this conversation with Phasma. Maybe she could work her way into an invitation to Netherfield House… “So what brings you here today?” Rey asked, her mind racing.

“I’ve come to ask you an important question,” Phasma said as she knelt down on the ground. It was only then that Rey realized that she carried something in her hand. Something that had a very distinct Force signature coming off of it. _No. Kriffing. Way._ “My dear Miss Bennett,” Phasma said as she opened the box. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

A minute ago, Rey had thought that Ben willingly saving Poe without taking credit for it was the craziest thing that had happened in this universe. But that was quickly overshot by the sight of Phasma, captain of the First Order stormtrooper program, kneeling in front of Rey, asking for her hand in marriage.

“I…” Rey had to get that holocron piece, and she had to get to Ben. But something about the idea of marrying Phasma was triggering a strange reaction in her. What was Ben going to think when she rolled up at Netherfield House on Phasma’s arm?

Wait. Why did Rey care how Ben felt about the idea of her marrying Phasma?

_Oh kriff. Oh fuck no. I think I’m in lo--_

Well, Rey had plenty of practice in denying the obvious. If she could repress the truth about her parents for fifteen years, she sure as hell could repress _this_.

She looked down at Phasma and forced herself to smile. “I would be honored,” she said as she took the box with the holocron piece. Phasma stood up, her face lit up in a bright smile. She really _was_ pretty when she wasn’t dressed in a terrifying chrome stormtrooper suit, Rey thought. Phasma leaned down and before Rey knew it, they were kissing.

Another minute ago, Rey would have gagged at the thought of kissing Phasma. But now, she was more than happy to kiss someone in an attempt to convince herself that there wasn’t another person who she wanted to be kissing instead.

“Come on,” Rey said as she and Phasma broke apart. “Let’s go tell your roommates the wonderful news.”

 

* * *

 

As soon as he arrived back in Alderaan, Ben resumed hunting around the house for the holocron piece. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, anyway, and he figured he may as well make the most of his time before Hux and Phasma showed up and interrupted him. Besides, he needed a distraction. 

He hadn’t really been thinking when he’d set off for Brighton (which was much further from Naboo than he had realized and _kriff_ he was sore from riding a horse that far). He couldn’t shake the image of Poe’s surprised face when he realized who had come to take him home, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done the right thing when he swore Poe to secrecy. It was probably better off that Rey not know what he was up to. He didn’t want her to think that he was, like, desperate to get her to talk to him, or anything.

Ben was busy going through an unused room on the third floor when a servant found him and announced that Phasma was waiting for him with a guest that she had brought with her. He sighed, annoyed that his search for the holocron piece had been interrupted, but he followed the servant into the drawing room without a word. When he spotted Rey holding Phasma’s hand, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Was he hallucinating? She wouldn’t meet his eye, but her face turned red as Ben walked into the room.

“We have some news for you,” Phasma said with a smile that Ben had never seen on her face. “We’re engaged!”

Ben inhaled sharply, earning him a strange look from Hux. _Rey? Engaged? To Phasma?_

“That’s wonderful news!” Hux said. “Congratulations, you two! We have news of our own,” he said. Ben had been so consumed by the sight of Rey holding hands with Phasma that he hadn’t even noticed that Poe was also in the room with them. “We’re engaged as well!”

_How the hell am I getting fifth-wheeled right now?_ Ben was aware that he was expected to give some sort of response, but his brain could barely handle taking in the sight in front of him.

“A double wedding! How wonderful,” Phasma gushed. She let go of Rey’s hand and walked over to Hux to hug him. “This is simply marvelous!”

Ben used the opportunity to finally catch Rey’s eye. He excused himself from the room, and a minute later, Rey followed him.

“What the kriff is going on?” he said. “Are you seriously going to marry Phasma?” _Wait, no. Don’t act jealous. If this makes her happy, then fine. Phasma is actually_ nice _to her and you’re not, remember?_ “I mean, if it makes you happy, since we’re apparently stuck here, but--”

Rey held out her hand. “She proposed to me with this,” she said, showing him the holocron piece. “I couldn’t say no. Besides, she’s not so bad,” she said casually. “I could do worse for a spouse.”

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” said Ben. “Do you want to stay here and marry her?”

Rey blinked. “What?”

“Because if that’ll make you happy,” he said, “then that’s fine. I support that.”

“But then you’d be stuck here,” she said. “I thought you wanted to go home.”

“I do,” said Ben. “But if you’re happy here…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. He hoped that Rey understood what he meant.

She looked down, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. “That won’t make me happy,” she said quietly.

“Then what will?” His heart started to pound. He prayed that it wasn’t something that Rey could sense over the Force bond. It was sometimes hard to know when physical responses were mixing or not.

“Let’s move on,” she said, reaching for Ben’s hand. “I’m not giving up on getting home yet.”

Pewheso popped up for the first time in ages when they opened the holocron. “I see that you two are starting to work together finally,” it said. “Isn’t it so much easier to find the pieces when you work as a team?”

“What are you talking about?” Ben said. “This is the longest it’s taken us to find a piece in a long time.”

“A very long time,” Rey agreed. “Does this mean that we can actually go home now?”

Pewheso shrugged. “My programming is still incomplete,” it said.

Rey and Ben groaned in unison. “For kriff’s sake,” Ben said. “Let’s just move on already.”

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

“Rey,” Rose said. “You up yet? Don’t you have to leave to go warm up?”

_Warm up for what?_ She pulled the curtains back and saw a young Rose looking at her. “Where are we?” she asked, hoping that it would just come across as sleepiness.

Rose smiled at her. “You goof,” she said as she reached for Rey’s hand to pull her up. “We’re at Coruscant School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the Sixth Year girls’ dormitory in Gryffindor house, to be exact. And you,” she added as she wrapped her arms around Rey’s waist, “are going to be late for the game.” She gave Rey a quick kiss on the lips, then pulled away before Rey’s brain could catch up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know how I made it this far (over 50k words!) without using “I have a bad feeling about this.”
> 
> On a scale of one to "repressing the truth for fifteen years," how happy do you think Rey's going to be about her relationship status in the next AU?


	17. Yer a wizard, Solo! (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Coruscant School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where this generation’s “chosen one” prophecy may apply to either one of two students, so they’ve been competing for the past six years to see who it actually is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again: you can pry my ‘everyone in space is bisexual’ headcanon from my cold, dead fingers. I’m operating under the assumption that it’s a given that everyone in the Star Wars universe is bisexual and no one ever questions this so that we can avoid any “Rey has a girlfriend again, does she even like men???” type panicking.
> 
> I’m not sure exactly how many universes they’ve been through outside of what’s in this fic, but they’ve aged 2-3 years since they left their universe.

Waking up felt different this time than it had the other times. Her body felt different. Maybe it was because they’d been stuck in the last universe for so long, Rey thought as she pushed herself up and took a look around. She was on a small bed that had red curtains hanging around it. She could hear the sounds of other people in the room, so she wasn’t alone. Where was she?

“Rey,” Rose said. “You up yet? Don’t you have to leave to go warm up?”

_Warm up for what?_ She pulled the curtains back and saw a young Rose looking at her. “Where are we?” she asked, hoping that it would just come across as sleepiness.

Rose smiled at her. “You goof,” she said as she reached for Rey’s hand to pull her up. “We’re at Coruscant School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the Sixth Year girls’ dormitory in Gryffindor house, to be exact. And you,” she added as she wrapped her arms around Rey’s waist, “are going to be late for the game.” She gave Rey a quick kiss on the lips, then pulled away before Rey’s brain could catch up.

“How old are you?” she asked.

Rose gave her a weird look. “I’m sixteen, Rey. As are you. My birthday was last week. There’s no way you forgot _that_ night,” she said with a wink.

 

* * *

 

Something was wrong with Ben’s body. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but something was _wrong._  

“Wake up, dork,” Hux called from the other side of the green curtains surrounding Ben’s bed. “We’ve got a game to play.”

_Uh-oh._ The words implied that there was something that Ben was supposed to know about. He _hated_ when he woke up in a new universe and was expected to jump into a big event right away. 

“Solo,” Hux said. “You okay in there?”

“‘M fine,” Ben grumbled. Was it just his imagination, or did his voice sound a little different? He blinked, and then looked down at his body to see if he could figure out why he felt so weird and... _Oh. Was I dreaming about Rey again?_ He didn’t remember having any dreams, and usually his X-rated dreams stuck around in his brain to torture him. He groaned and covered his face in his hands, only to notice something else. _What happened to my scar?_ He ran his fingers over his cheek, wondering why he didn’t feel the groove Rey’s scar left.

“Come on,” said Hux, snapping Ben back to the present. “We have to beat Gryffindor in the Quidditch match today, and then we have to celebrate your sixteenth birthday.” 

Sixteen. He was sixteen again. _KRIFF._ Well, that explained the mystery morning wood… _Fuck_. Hormones had been bad enough the first time around. He didn’t know if he could survive round two.

When he didn’t respond, he heard Hux say a word that Ben didn’t understand. Next thing he knew, he was being showered in cold water. Ben yelped, and he heard Hux laugh. “Knew that would get your attention,” he said. “Hurry up, babe. Can’t be late.”

Wait. _Babe?_

 

* * *

 

Sixteen. How the kriff was she sixteen? _Well, that explains why I feel weird,_ Rey thought as she examined her face in the locker room mirror half an hour later. She was missing a lot of scars she’d gotten when she was older, and her body felt gawky in a way that she hadn’t felt in years. (How old was she now, anyway? She had no idea how long she and Ben had been traveling through universes. A couple of years, at least.)

And okay. Rose was (maybe?) her girlfriend here? Which was actually not all that bad, Rey thought. She’d always liked Rose. She was cute, and Rey couldn’t resist a girl who put her life at risk for some crazy plan to help her friends escape death at the hands of the First Order. And having a girlfriend here meant that there was _no_ way she could possibly be hung up on a certain other Force-sensitive, was there?

“You ready?” Finn said as he put on the rest of his quidditch gear. Quidditch, Rey had gathered, was some sort of sport played on small flying vehicles called ‘brooms.’ Rey had also gathered that this was a very important game against their rivals, Slytherin. And her role in it was important, even if she had no idea what said role was. She forced herself to nod and smile at Finn.

“Alright, team,” said Poe as he stood on a locker room bench. “This is it. The final game of the year. Just us and Slytherin. We’ve got this. We’ve been training. We can take whatever they bring.” He addressed the other members, giving them last-minute tips for their particular roles on the team. “And Rey,” he said, addressing her last. “I know you can do this. You’re the best Seeker we’ve had in decades. All you have to do is beat Ben Solo to the Golden Snitch, and we’ve won the game.” Her heart stuttered at ‘beat Ben Solo.’ She smiled at Poe in an attempt to ignore her stupid heart.

“Okay team,” Poe said with a grin. “Let’s do this.”

 

* * *

 

Ben followed Hux out of the castle (yeah, they lived in a kriffing _castle_ ) and down to the sports field. The fact that Hux had called him ‘babe’ was alarming, but he hadn’t made any other move on Ben, so maybe ‘babe’ meant something different in this universe. He certainly hoped so. Not that he was opposed to having a boyfriend in theory, but a) he was opposed to having Hux as a boyfriend and b) there was Rey to consider and if there was even the _slightest_ chance that she-- _Stop thinking like that, Solo. Rey has made it clear that she doesn’t like you._

“We’re going to kick Gryffindor’s arse today,” Hux was saying as he led Ben into the locker rooms. “We’ve got this. You’re the best seeker in Slytherin’s history. No one can fly a broom like you can.” There was flying involved? It couldn’t be so bad, then. If Ben could figure out how to fly that stupid balloon in Oz, he could figure out whatever vehicle he was expected to fly here. “You’re going to beat Rey Rowling to the Golden Snitch today,” Hux said with a smirk.

_Rey!_ Predictably, she had a new last name here. Ben wondered if it was supposed to mean anything in this universe. He’d have to figure that out later, though. He had a game to learn in the space of about ten minutes. _Challenge accepted._

He listened to Phasma, who was the team captain, with far more attention than he’d ever paid attention to anything she’d ever said before. She was discussing strategy for the game, but most of what she said didn’t mean anything to Ben. Hux saying “You’re going to beat Rey Rowling to the Golden Snitch” was the most helpful thing he’d heard about the game since waking up and before he knew it, he was following his teammates out onto the field, praying that the game was as simple as racing Rey to the finish line on some sort of flying vehicle.

Ben searched for Rey as soon as he stepped out onto the field and was unsurprised to see Poe Dameron as team captain. She was on the other side of the field, but they locked eyes as soon as they sensed each other. He was surprised by the sense of relief he felt at seeing her in the same place as him. Unfortunately, that meant that whatever was about to happen was significant, and he sensed that she knew about as much about it as he did.

_If this game involves flying, where are the ships?_ he wondered. He was carrying some sort of long wooden device that he assumed was used to hit the balls, but as he watched the rest of his team get into position, he realized that the wooden thing was the actual flying device.

“Solo!” Hux hissed. “Stop staring Rowling down and get ready to start!” Ben hurried to arrange the vehicle properly ( _What the kriff, how does this thing fly?!_ ), still half-paying attention to Rey as she did the same. Then there was a whistle, and everyone shot up into the air as the game began.

 

* * *

 

Flying a broom wasn’t like flying anything Rey had ever flown before, but how hard could it be? She was hyperaware of Ben’s presence on the field and the fact that he was equally at a loss for how to fly the vehicle, both of which were oddly comforting. She thought about trying to use the Force bond to figure out what the hell they were supposed to be doing with Ben, but they were on opposite sides of a match, and Rey didn’t want to risk giving him some advantage over her. She had to beat him. 

Fortunately, Rey was smart enough to figure out how to fly the thing within a couple of minutes, but her struggle was noticeable enough that the other team started targeting her with a couple of balls that they hit with bats (which were different from the red ball people were trying to throw through hoops, which was also different from the tiny gold ball Rey was expected to catch). _Just like dodging blaster hits,_ she thought grimly as she dived out of the way. She could still sense Ben’s presence on the field, but she was no longer paying attention to him. _Find the golden snitch,_ she told herself. _Find it and we win the game._ She flew around the field, searching for a flash of light that might give the location of the ball away. She thought she caught a glimpse of it at one point but when she got closer, she realized that it was just the glint of someone’s chrono.

“Did you find it yet?”

Rey turned to look at Ben. “Would I tell you if I did?” she asked. “We’re on opposite teams, you know.”

“I noticed,” he said, nodding at Rey’s red uniform. _Green is a good color on him,_ Rey caught herself thinking.

“I’m going to beat you to it,” said Rey with a smirk. “Just you wait and see.”

“REY!” She turned to see Poe hovering above her. “Snitch now. Threatening your rival later.” _Rival? He must be referring to Ben._ With one last glance at Ben, she sped off in another direction.

There was an announcer and there was cheering, but Rey barely heard it. She could see why people would consider this kind of flying fun, but she missed the familiarity of a ship. There were no controls on a broom, and she almost fell off a few times when she turned or dived too quickly. 

And then there was a sudden spike of energy from Ben. _The snitch!_ Rey turned and sped towards him, not even needing to look in order to know where he was. _I have to beat him, I have to beat him_ she repeated to herself as she finally spotted the glint of gold that he was rushing for. _Almost there--_

But she was too late, and she couldn’t stop herself from slamming into him as he held up the golden ball. She yelped and nearly knocked both of them off of their brooms as a whistle blew to signal the end of the game.

“I win,” Ben said, waving the golden ball in Rey’s face once they had landed.

“Actually,” Poe said as he landed next to them, “Gryffindor wins.”

Ben and Rey exchanged glances. “How?” she asked. “I thought that whoever caught the snitch won the game.”

“Solo got 150 points for Slytherin, but they were down 160 points,” Poe said with a grin. “So we still win, 190-180.” He gathered Rey in a big bear hug and said, “We won! Who cares that Solo caught the snitch first? Gryffindor won the house quidditch cup!”

 

* * *

 

While the Gryffindor team was celebrating their win, the Slytherin team was feeling very tense as they walked back to the locker room. 

“But I caught the snitch,” Ben said to Hux. “How did they win?”

“Our Keeper sucks, that’s how,” he said bitterly. “And their Keeper doesn’t.”

The somber mood continued as they cleaned up and made their way back to the castle to eat lunch. Ben knew that Rey was around somewhere, but he was too annoyed at the fact that he had beat Rey to the snitch but her team had still won. And besides, he wasn’t looking forward to seeing her when he looked like his stupid, awkward, gawky teenage self. There hadn’t been enough time for either of them to pay attention to anything other than winning the game. He didn’t even know if she’d noticed that his scar was missing.

“Well, score one for you, anyway,” said Hux.

“Score?”

“For your competition against Rey Rowling,” Hux said. “You know, the thing where you two have been fighting from Day 1 because of that ‘chosen one’ prophecy that could apply to either of you.”

That sounded like something that he and Rey would encounter in one of these universes. Of _course_ there was a competition between the two of them. “What’s the score at now?” he said.

“Last I knew, you and Rey were tied, but this bumps you up to 253 points. But if you want the latest score, we’ll have to check the Room of Requirement when we’re there later on. You know,” he said with a wink. “For your party.”

Ben was so busy trying to think of a way to ask Hux what he had meant by ‘babe’ earlier that he didn’t notice that Hux had stopped until he walked into him. “Hux, what the--” he started to say, but he stopped when he realized why Hux had stopped.

“Rowling,” Hux said icily. “Dameron, Tico, and Trooper. Of course. Come to gloat? Because I’d like to remind you that _your_ Seeker lost the snitch today.”

Dameron said something, but Ben was too busy staring at Rey. If he was sixteen, then she was, too, right? She didn’t look all that much younger than her normal self. Skinnier, with acne dotting her face, but she had only aged a few years back. Ben, on the other hand, was half his actual age. He hadn’t realized how big of an age difference there was between them until just now. He’d always felt like they were on even footing, just on opposite sides of a war, and for all their differences in Force polarities, they were pretty evenly matched. _Oh, stars. I’m way too old for her._ The realization hurt more than he expected it to. _I shouldn’t care about this._ The age difference had never stopped her from treating him as an equal (as much as it was possible to treat an opponent as an equal, anyway). But it was another reminder of how Ben felt about her--and how she didn’t feel about him.

He couldn’t interpret the expression on her face; he figured it was just her reaction to seeing the way his stupid ears stuck out or the fact that he still looked like he hadn’t quite grown into his body at this age. “Come on,” he said gruffly to Hux, pulling on the sleeve of his robe. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.” He didn’t meet Rey’s eyes as he dragged Hux into the dining hall.

“What was all that about?” Hux asked as they sat down. “Usually you and Rowling love to argue. You guys _hate_ each other." 

“It’s nothing,” said Ben. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are you still upset about losing?” Hux murmured. He put his hand on Ben’s thigh and gave it a squeeze. “Because I think I know something that will make you feel better.” Ben choked on the orange beverage he was drinking as he felt his body start to react. Hux laughed quietly and let go of Ben’s leg. “Later,” he said.

_Great._ Just that little bit of contact (that wasn’t even all that sexy--Hux? Seriously?) gave him half an erection. _These hormones are going to be the death of me._

 

* * *

 

Rey couldn’t get over how different Ben looked. She knew that he was older than her, but she hadn’t realized just how much older he was until she was looking at a version of him that was the same age as her. Stars, she must seem like a kid to him. Which made it even worse that he wanted him so badly. And okay, granted, she didn’t want to jump sixteen-year-old Ben’s bones the way she normally did, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she shouldn’t have wanted him at all, which was made very clear by the now-obvious age gap between them. 

Kriff.

“Hey,” said Rose, giving Rey’s hand a squeeze. “We still beat them. He was probably trying to lure you into a false sense of security at the game earlier. I’ve never seen either of you fly like that before.”

“Yeah,” Rey said distractedly. _No more Ben. Focus on Rose._ “It was strange. But you’re right, we still beat them.” She forced herself to smile and lean in to rest her head on Rose’s shoulder. That was a socially acceptable for teenagers to show affection, wasn’t it? Rey wouldn’t know. She hadn’t had much use for affection on Jakku. Just a handful of short-lived flings with people who were just passing through Niima Outpost.

Rose surprised her by kissing the top of her head, then she shrugged her shoulder. “Up,” she said. “You need to eat dinner.”

She was halfway through a sandwich when there was a commotion near the ceiling. A flock of porgs was flying in through the open windows, carrying various scrolls, envelopes, and packages. “Oh good,” said Rose. “Mail is here.” A porg landed in front of Rey and held out its leg, which had a scroll attached to it. She took the scroll and the porg chirped before taking off again.

_Dear Rey, I’ve got a new batch of magical plants that just came in today. If you’re not busy later, you should come see them so that we can continue our supplementary herbology lessons. --Luke_

“It’s from Luke,” Rey said, frowning. Magical plants? Maybe that was a sort of stand-in for Jedi training. Sometimes there were in-universe versions of the things and relationships Rey had in her own universe. This was probably one of them. She briefly wondered if Luke was still Ben’s uncle here. 

“More ‘Chosen One’ stuff, then,” said Rose. “I’ve got a bunch of homework, but do you want me to come?”

“It’s fine,” Rey said, sticking the letter in her pocket. She had to find a way to tell Ben. “Focus on studying. I’ll see you later.” She glanced over at the Slytherin table on the other side of the room. Ben was listening to something Hux was saying, but he turned and caught her eye. _We need to talk_  she tried to communicate. He gave a subtle nod, but he didn’t stand up. Rey figured that it was probably better that they not leave at the same time, anyway. Their rivalry seemed to be legendary.

She managed to find an unused classroom not too far from the dining hall that she ducked into as she waited for Ben. He followed a few minutes later, shutting the door behind him. There was an awkward minute as Rey tried to decide whether or not to address the fact that they were both teenagers before she blurted out, “Your scar is missing.” 

“You mean _your_ scar,” he said, smiling. _Her_ scar. Something about that made Rey’s heart thump. “What’s up?”

“Luke’s here,” Rey said, handing him the scroll.

He scanned it, then handed it back to her. “Are you going to go see him?”

“Yes,” she said. “And I think you should come, too.” Ben frowned, but she kept talking. “I’m sorry if it’s weird for you, and I don’t even know if he’s actually your uncle here, but everyone keeps talking about some ‘chosen one’ stuff and I think Luke might have answers.”

He grimaced, but then he nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s probably significant. Maybe he’s got the holocron piece somewhere.”

“I hope so,” Rey said. “I hate being a teenager again.”

Ben turned bright red. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. Rey sensed that there was something else he wasn’t saying, but she didn’t push it. She didn’t want to talk about the age gap issue, either.

They made plans to sneak out later that evening. “We probably shouldn’t be seen together,” Rey pointed out. “Everyone thinks we hate each other, and I don’t want to have to bullshit our way out of that.” Ben nodded, then he slipped out of the room. Rey waited a couple of minutes before following, hoping that she could remember the way back to her bedroom.

 

* * *

 

Ben understood why he and Rey needed to sneak around, but that didn’t meant he liked it. He was so busy trying to interpret Rey’s expression when he had said ‘it’s _your_ scar’ that he completely forgot about Hux until he walked into the common room as Hux was about to leave.

“There you are,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go up to the Room of Requirement.”

Ben had no idea what the ‘room of requirement’ could possibly be, but if it meant that he was going to be alone with Hux, he had to find a way out of it. “I’ll meet you up there,” he said. “I’ve got to, uh, grab something from my room.”

“The point of the Room of Requirement is that it has everything we need,” Hux murmured, moving too close for comfort.

Kriff. That hadn’t worked. “Just trust me,” he said, trying to imitate the tone of Hux’s voice.

Hux raised an eyebrow, but he said, “Sure thing, babe. Just don’t keep me waiting for too long.” He looked around, then gave Ben a quick kiss before leaving. Was he in a secret relationship with Hux? That was almost weirder than openly being in a relationship with Hux. 

Ben waited a few minutes until he was certain that Hux wasn’t going to backtrack before sneaking out to meet Rey at the castle doors. It was starting to get dark by then, and neither of them said a word as they sneaked out onto the grounds. Ben wasn’t sure what kind of curfew this place had, but he doubted that the school would just let teenagers run around unsupervised all night.

“Do you think he’s your uncle here?” she said as they neared the small hut at the edge of the woods.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I hope not.” Seeing Luke as a fairy in Oz had been weird, but it was a little easier to handle because fairy!Luke wasn’t family. But this Luke? Ben had no idea.

He couldn’t stop fidgeting as Rey knocked on the door and waited for Luke to appear. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she whispered as they heard footsteps approach.

“I think it’s a little late to ask,” he said as the door swung open.

“Rey!” Luke said with a smile. “And...Ben?” He raised an eyebrow. “What are you two doing here together?”

“I know, I know, we hate each other,” Rey said as she pulled the scroll out of her pocket. “We wanted to ask you some questions about this.”

Luke stared for another moment, then shrugged. “If you want to drag my naughty nephew around with you, be my guest,” he said. Rey snorted and Ben felt his face heat up. _Naughty nephew? Who_ says _that?_

They sat in silence, looking around the small cottage around them as Luke made tea. Nothing immediately stood out to Ben that screamed ‘holocron piece,’ but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t there.

“Now, what is this all about?” said Luke as he gave them each a mug of tea.

“We’re looking for something,” said Rey. “It doesn’t belong in this world.”

Luke frowned. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” he said.

Ben and Rey exchanged glances. _How much should we tell him?_ she asked him.

_Something tells me that botched magic is normal in this world._ “I accidentally triggered a spell that sent us on a quest to find things,” he said.

“Were you playing around with dark magic?” Luke asked quietly.

“No,” Ben said. “Just old magic.” Which was true. The Force spell did predate the Jedi and the Sith.

“Well, I haven’t seen anything that screams ‘quest’ at me,” Luke said. “I suggest you check the library. You may find the answers you’re looking for there." 

_Not a bad idea,_ Rey said. _We found a piece in the library in Varykino, remember?_

Varykino. That was so long ago that Ben had almost forgotten about it. He and Rey had still been so angry at each other then. When had that changed?

“That’s a good idea,” Rey said to Luke. “Thank you.”

“Sorry I can’t be of more help,” said Luke. “But do you want to see the new plants I got?” He sounded so excited that Rey and Ben couldn’t bring themselves to say no. Luke led them to the greenhouse that was attached to the cottage. “It’s popular in the Muggle world,” he said as he showed them a row of small leafy green plants. “They dry it out and smoke it. Sometimes they cook it into food.”

They’d seen that plant before, actually. In another universe. “Oh, that’s weed,” said Rey.

Luke looked surprised. “How do you know that? I know you spend every summer in Muggle foster homes, but don’t they keep kids from using stuff like this?” Ben had no idea what a Muggle was, but he understood what the rest of it meant. Rey was still an orphan with nowhere to go. She seemed less bothered by it than she used to.

“They can’t stop everything,” she said with a shrug. “It’s fun to smoke.”

“Is it?” said Luke. “Can you show me how it’s done? I bought this little glass thing. They said that the weed went in there, but I can’t figure out how it works.” 

“It needs to be dried,” Rey said as she took the glass piece from Luke. He pulled out a wand, said a word, and the plant was instantly dried. Rey showed Luke how to prepare and pack the bowl. Luke looked like he wanted to be taking notes the entire time. “And then you smoke it like this,” she said. She used her wand as a lighter (Ben wondered when she’d had time to learn a spell like that), then passed the bowl to Luke. “See? And then we pass it around.”

An hour later, Ben and Rey were waving goodbye to Luke, whose eyes were still bloodshot. “That was good weed that he got,” Rey said with a giggle. “Stars, I’m hungry.”

“Let’s sneak into the kitchens before we head back,” Ben said. “We can be sneaky. We’re good at using the Force.” 

“The Force doesn’t work the same here, dummy,” Rey said. “It never works anywhere quite like it does at home.” The reminder of how far from home they were sent a pang through both of them. (Ben noted with some dismay that it was harder to keep mental shields up when they were stoned.)

“Do you think they patrol here at night to keep students from sneaking out?” Ben asked.

“You mean, students like yourselves?” said a voice from behind them. They jumped and whirled to face the speaker.

_Is that--_ Rey began.

_C-3PO?_ The sight of the Organa-Skywalker family droid was even weirder than Luke referring to him as his ‘naughty nephew.’

“I’m bringing you to the headmistress’s office,” C-3PO said. “Now.”

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

 Rey wasn’t expecting the mess of feelings that she would describe as ‘generally upset and nervous’ coming from Ben. Something about the lingering high from the marijuana they’d smoked with Luke made the boundaries between them weaken and before she realized what she was doing, she was reaching for Ben’s hand under the table. His expression didn’t change, but Rey felt him relax a little bit as he twined his fingers with hers. She still didn’t understand Ben’s problem with his family--and, she realized, she might not ever understand, just as he might not understand why she was so attached to his--but she needed to let him know that he wasn’t alone.

_You’re not alone._ Why did it always seem to come down to those words with her and Ben?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My “Luke is a stoner” headcanon is so strong that even in a Hogwarts AU, he’s a stoner.
> 
> Any guesses as to who the headmistress is?
> 
> Side note, my actual headcanons about which Hogwarts houses these guys would end up in are a little different, but I wanted to keep the Gryffindor/Slytherin split.
> 
> Other side note: Thursday's update may not happen this week. I've got a lot of stuff going on in my personal life right now and I'd rather skip an update than post a half-assed chapter. If that happens, part II of this will be up next Monday. Sorry, guys!


	18. Yer a wizard, Solo! (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is “spend a night in the Forbidden Forest” an appropriate detention for teenagers? Seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for bearing with me as I missed Thursday’s update. Mental illness and big life changes don’t mix well together. I like to stay at least one chapter ahead (preferably two) because of the “next on” bit, and this chapter (as well as the next two) are on the long side (4k+ words each). I also have another bonus drabble in a couple of weeks to make up for it :)

“Students out of bed past curfew and under the influence of Muggle drugs _at my school?_ ”

Rey had never been on the receiving end of a glare from Leia Organa before, and she did not like it. “Gen--I mean, Professor Organa, we were just--” 

“I know what you’re going to say,” Leia said. “‘Sorry, professor! It’s just another ‘chosen one’ thing!’ Well, tough. I can’t treat you any differently from the rest of the non-’chosen one’ students at this school.” Rey shrank back in her seat, but Leia wasn’t done. “And you,” she said, turning to face Ben. “Do you really think that you can just act like you own the place simply because I’m your mother?” Rey wasn’t expecting the mess of feelings that she would describe as ‘generally upset and nervous’ coming from Ben. Something about the lingering high from the marijuana they’d smoked with Luke made the boundaries between them weaken and before she realized what she was doing, she was reaching for Ben’s hand under the table. His expression didn’t change, but Rey felt him relax a little bit as he twined his fingers with hers. She still didn’t understand Ben’s problem with his family--and, she realized, she might not ever understand, just as he might not understand why she was so attached to his--but she needed to let him know that he wasn’t alone.

_You’re not alone._ Why did it always seem to come down to those words with her and Ben?

“What were you even doing out this late?” Leia asked. “There’s no way you two were sneaking around _together_. Is there?” She addressed this more to Ben than to Rey, but both of them turned equally red. “Everyone knows how much you two hate each other and Merlin knows that I would love for my only son to have better taste in significant others than the spawn of Brendol Hux--” _Wait, significant other?!_ Rey was so busy trying to make sense of it that she almost missed Leia’s next words. “--but I know for a _fact_ that Miss Rowling can be seen canoodling with Miss Tico all the time these days, so it can’t _possibly_ be that you two are sneaking around together.”

Ben pulled his hand away from Rey’s and pushed her mind out. They’d both sobered up enough to build their mental shields back up again, and with Leia’s full attention on them, Rey couldn’t figure out a good way to stop and make Ben talk to her. Besides, she didn’t know what to say, anyway. What business of hers was it if he was dating Hux here? What business of _his_ was it if _she_ was dating Rose here? None of it mattered in the end, because there was no way that Ben--

“Detention,” Leia snapped, pulling Rey’s attention back to the present. “A night in the Forbidden Forest. Meet me at the door to the castle tomorrow at sundown. Maybe that will scare you two into not breaking curfew again.” The Forbidden Forest? That sounded ominous. But she nodded silently as Leia dismissed them, and she didn’t say anything to Ben until they’d left the headmistress’s tower and were back in the main part of the castle.

“So,” said Rey as casually as she could manage. “You and Hux, huh? That’s a new one.”

Ben let out a nervous laugh and turned bright red. Rey caught herself thinking about how endearing it was to see him so embarrassed. “It is definitely a new one,” he said. “He keeps calling me ‘babe.’”

Rey couldn’t hold back her laughter. “No way,” she said. “You’re making that up.”

“You really don’t believe me? After everything we’ve seen?”

“It’s too weird to be true, even for us.”

“What about you and Tico, then?” he said. Rey didn’t know how to interpret the look that flashed in his eyes when he said that.

“What about it?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“First Phasma, now Tico?” The strange expression had vanished, leaving a very Solo smirk in its place. “You’re a bit of a flirt, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be jealous,” Rey said before she could stop herself. “At the fact that Phasma proposed to me, I mean,” she before he could get the wrong impression.

“I’m not jealous,” he said quickly. “Tico’s cute. You’re cute. Ah, I mean, you’re cute together. You and Tico.”

“Thanks, I guess,” she mumbled. A clock rang out from somewhere deep within the castle. “We should probably go before we get another detention thrown at us,” she said, turning to head towards Gryffindor tower. “See you tomorrow.” She didn’t wait for a response as she walked off. _We have definitely had more productive interactions,_ she thought grimly.

 

* * *

 

Hux didn’t question Ben when he said that he hadn’t made it to the Room of Requirement because he’d gotten caught sneaking around. “Your mother hates me,” he said. “Well, tough.” He leaned in to bump his shoulder against Ben’s. “This thing between us may be new, but we’ve been friends for long enough that she’s not going to get rid of me that easily.”

_For kriff’s sake._ Ben had been hoping that Hux would be angry enough about getting stood up that he’d leave Ben alone all day. Clingy boyfriend Hux was not one of the better Huxes he’d encountered. (On the other hand, spending the day trying to avoid Hux’s kisses was a nice distraction from trying to avoid thinking about how Rey had a girlfriend. _Again_.)

“You’re going to be late for detention if you don’t leave now,” Hux murmured as the sun hung low in the sky. “If your mother is angry enough to make you spend the night in the Forbidden Forest, she’s not going to let you escape further punishment for being late.” Ben turned at the last minute so that Hux kissed his cheek instead of his lips and ran off. He was simultaneously nervous and excited at the prospect of spending all night with Rey, even if it was going to be a night spent in a place sinisterly named “The Forbidden Forest.”

Rey and Leia were already waiting by the time Ben arrived. None of them spoke as Leia led them outside and down the castle lawn, past Luke’s hut. He caught his mother side-eyeing the hut as they passed, but they didn’t stop to speak to Luke. They didn’t stop walking until they were deep in a forest covered in massive trees. It was creepy, but Ben had been in worse places, so he relaxed a bit as he realized that they weren’t going to spend the night running from monsters.

“If you get in serious, life-threatening trouble, send up green sparks,” said Leia. “Luke and Chewie will come find you. But if you’re sending up green sparks for no reason, you both have an extra month of detention. I’ll meet you back here at dawn.” With that, she turned and made her way back towards the castle, leaving Ben and Rey in the rapidly darkening woods.

“This is stupid,” Rey said as soon as Leia was out of earshot. “What kind of punishment is this for teenagers?”

“Don’t remind me of how old we are,” Ben said with a grimace. “I hated being a teenager the first time around. I can’t believe I have to do it again.” He was glad when Rey didn’t press him for details. There was no good way to explain the massive hormone-driven sex drive that he’d spent the past fifteen years repressing completely to the person he was completely in lo-- _Don’t even think it,_ he told himself.

“As long as we don’t spend the next three months fighting with each other, we might get out of here soon,” Rey said.

A small, reckless part of Ben’s brain wanted to say _There are hotter ways we could spend the next three months_. “Fighting is what we do best,” he said, trying to make it sound like a joke.

“Fighting with each other, or fighting against each other?” she asked, sounding amused.

“If we come across anything that wants to kill us in here, fighting with each other, I hope." 

“I vote the next universe we end up in is somewhere in a safe place where there’s a lot of food and no fighting,” Rey said.

“Have you given up on getting home?” 

“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve been doing this for years at this point, and I can’t tell if we’re any closer to getting home.” She was silent for a moment, but Ben sensed that she wasn’t done speaking. “I want to have hope,” she said softly. “Do you?”

“I don’t think I even know what hope feels like anymore,” he said. It was full dark now. There was a rustling in the leaves, and he thought he heard the sound of hoofbeats somewhere in the distance. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s try to find someplace safe.” _And warm,_ he added as he started to shiver. The temperature had dropped considerably once the sun went down.

They wandered around until they found a clearing that was bright with light from the full moon that they both deemed safe. It was late enough that they were both starting to feel sluggish. He’d forgotten how much sleep he’d needed when he was a teenager.

“How much longer until sunrise?” Rey asked with a yawn.

Ben looked up at the sky before he realized that he didn’t know any of the constellations or astronomical patterns in this universe. “A few hours at least,” he said as he sat down at the foot of a giant tree. He closed his eyes and leaned back, but he opened them again when he felt Rey sit down next to him. Her thigh brushed his as she made herself comfortable, and he felt torn as to whether to pull away or let it rest against his. She shifted to give him a little space before he could decide, but she was still sitting close enough that he swore he could feel the heat radiating off of her body.

“This is a waste of time,” Rey said. “We could be combing the castle for the holocron piece.”

“How do you know it’s not out here?” Ben asked.

“Do _you_ want to wander around a place called ‘The Forbidden Forest’ in the middle of the night?" 

“I bet we can take anything that decides to attack us,” he said sleepily. 

“Our lightsabers appear to have been replaced with magic sticks,” Rey said, examining hers. “Unless mine turns into a quarterstaff, I don’t trust my ability to defend us.” _Us. Defend us._ Ben wondered if she had noticed the slip. He tried not to get his hopes up too much. She only meant it as ‘I am stuck with you because you have the tool to get us home.’

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said instead.

She gave him a look as if she expected him to elaborate, but he stayed quiet. After a few minutes of silence, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “It’s cold out here,” she said.

Ben agreed, but he didn’t know what to say. _Is she hinting that we should huddle for warmth?_ he wondered. He didn’t want to deny her anything that would make her more comfortable, but he didn’t trust his stupid teenage body not to react in a really inappropriate way. “Yeah,” he said, his voice betraying his nervousness.

He could tell that she was tense, but he didn’t know what else to say to her. He felt paralyzed by anxiety. “This is dumb,” she finally said. “You’re warm. Can I, uh…” She trailed off, clearly feeling as awkward about the situation as Ben did. He doubted it was for the same reasons he was, though. Instead of saying something that might accidentally reveal how badly he wanted to touch her, he wordlessly scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her, simultaneously loving and hating the way that Rey seemed to fit perfectly curled up against him. She was as tense as he was, and he wished he knew what was going through her mind. They’d come a long way since leaving their universe, but he definitely wasn’t ready to have a deep, serious conversation about feelings with her. He doubted that he ever would. Most likely it was just going to burst out of him with exactly the same amount of tact that every other thing he’d ever said to her had done.

“Better?” he forced himself to say before his thoughts could keep going down a path that would only get him in trouble.

Somehow, the question made her relax into his touch. “Yeah,” she said sleepily. “Better.” He couldn’t keep a stupid smile off his face, and he was glad that she couldn’t see his expression. He felt her drift off to sleep, but he wanted to stay awake so that he could take full advantage of what was probably going to be the only time in his entire life that Rey relaxed enough to let him hold her. And anyway, he had to tread carefully here. One wrong move, and she was going to find out what a horndog he was, which was definitely going to undo some of the trust she’d placed in him that allowed her relax enough to fall asleep on his shoulder. _Kriff._

 

* * *

 

Rey didn’t realize she’d dozed off until she felt Ben shift beneath her, muttering “Can we _not_ do this right now?” 

“Who are you talking to?” she murmured sleepily as she took stock of the change in position. She’d fallen asleep on her shoulder, but at some point they’d shifted so that they were lying down with Rey’s head resting on Ben’s chest.

He tensed suddenly, realizing that she had woken up. “No one,” he said quickly. “Nothing.”

He must have been annoyed at the way Rey had nearly crawled on top of him. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed herself away, but to her surprise, he pulled her back towards his chest.

“Where are you going?” he said. “I thought you were cold.” Oh. He must have been huddling for warmth, too. And it wasn’t like she really wanted to leave. Sure, he was warm and it was a cold night to spend in the woods, but something about curling up next to Ben just felt so _right._

Rey didn’t want to examine that feeling too closely.

“I am,” she said. “I just don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” he said quickly. The words made Rey’s heart beat uncomfortably fast. She wasn’t going to fall back asleep now.

“I think the sky is getting lighter anyway,” she said. Wherever they were, the nights were short, and the sooner they could get back to the castle, the sooner they could keep hunting for the holocron piece. Rey didn’t sense that they were going to find it in the forest. Reluctantly, she untangled herself from Ben’s arms and pushed herself to her feet. He followed a second later, wrapping his cloak around himself as if he was trying to hide his body. He must have been even colder than she was.

Leia was already waiting for them as they made their way out of the forest just as the sun pulled up over the horizon. “Did we learn our lesson about sneaking around in the dark?” she asked.

Rey and Ben nodded, making sure to keep their distance from each other. Now that they were out of the woods, the whole thing felt oddly dreamlike, and Rey’s dreams were never safe when Ben was involved. Not that she had nightmares of him; she just couldn’t shake the graphic images her brain dragged up of all of the dirty things she wanted to do to him, and the idea of fantasizing about a very naked Ben in front of his mother was too much for her to handle.

By silent agreement, they spent the next few days combing the castle’s massive library, looking for the holocron piece. None of their friends questioned their sudden desire to spend time in the library--after all, exams were coming up soon, and their in-universe selves were competing to be the best in class--but Rey couldn’t escape Rose’s casual affection or the fact that her Gryffindor friends used every opportunity they could to bash Ben and his Slytherin friends. She’d learned a long time ago that things went easier if she just went with the flow of the way things were in each universe, but it was getting harder and harder to stop herself from defending him.

“You’re not going to the library to study tonight,” Rose said one Friday evening.

“I’m not?” asked Rey.

“There’s a party in the Room of Requirement tonight,” Rose said. “Hufflepuff is hosting, which means there’s going to be food. I know you won’t turn _that_ down.”

Rey grinned. That was one thing she didn’t have to fake in this universe, thankfully. And besides, she and Ben had searched nearly the entire library and found nothing. She may as well take the night off. “Sounds good,” she said.

The Room of Requirement turned out to be a secret room on the seventh floor that turned into whatever its occupants needed it to be, which, tonight, was a room with enough food and booze for teenagers to throw a secret party. Rey was nearly overwhelmed at the cheers that greeted her as she walked in, but everyone moved out of her way as soon as she spotted the food table. Apparently, her appetite here was just as legendary as her feud with Ben.

Rey was on her third scone when a sudden hush fell over the people in the room. She turned around to see what everyone was staring at and locked eyes with Ben.

“We have a right to be here, too,” Hux sneered. “We’re sixth years as well.” There was some uncomfortable muttering throughout the room, but Rey was barely paying attention to it. It wasn’t until Hux grabbed Ben’s hand and pulled him in the direction of the alcohol that she dropped her eyes and tried to pretend that her heart wasn’t pounding. It was one thing to whisper to Ben in private, deep in the library stacks where no one could see them. It was another to have to pretend to hate him in front of all of their “classmates.”

“Aren’t you going to duel him?”

Rey jumped as she realized that Rose had snuck up and was whispering in her ear. “Sorry?” she asked.

“You can’t just let Ben Solo and the other Slytherins walk into a party like this,” Rose said. “Who invited them, anyway?”

Rey didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t surprised that she was expected to duel Ben, but what was she supposed to do? Even if they did have their normal lightsabers instead of the magic sticks, they’d learned the hard way what happened when they had a lightsaber battle outside of their normal universe. How the hell were they going to fight with the magic sticks? _May as well get this over with,_ she thought grimly. If they “dueled” maybe everyone would stop staring and whispering.

She took a deep breath and marched over to where Ben, Hux, and Phasma were standing. The other students had given them a wide perimeter, as if everyone knew that there was going to be a fight. “Solo,” she said. Silently, she added _Just go with this._ “Let’s fight.”

Ben raised an eyebrow as if to ask what she expected him to do, but he pulled out his magic stick and turned to face her. “Rowling,” he said.

They both shifted into attack positions, but then neither of them made any movement to actually fight. _What are we supposed to be doing?_ Ben asked.

_I don’t know,_ Rey said as she raised her magic stick. Ben did the same, then they both flicked their wrists in unison. There was a flash and next thing they knew, their magic sticks were connected by a beam of light.

“What the hell?” Rey heard Rose ask.

“What kind of fight is this?” Hux said loudly.

“Fuck if I know,” Ben said, trying to shake the connection from Rey. The magic sticks weren’t giving up that easily, though.

“This is stupid,” Rey said. She threw her magic stick at Ben, not wanting to be physically connected to him anymore. It was almost like looking at the Force bond made physical, and with the confusing way she felt about him at the moment, she couldn’t handle looking at the connection. “I don’t get it. Why are we fighting? Don’t we have the same goals? Fulfill this prophecy, or whatever.”

Ben caught Rey’s magic stick in his other hand, but cursed a second later as he dropped both of them. There was another flash, and they were lying on the floor, no longer connected. But-- _wait a minute,_ Rey thought as she spotted a familiar object on the floor. _Is that--_

_The holocron piece,_ Ben said as he reached down to pick up the magic sticks and the piece. He pocketed the piece, then walked over to hand Rey’s magic stick back to her. “I agree,” he said. “I’m sick of fighting with you.”

Rey couldn’t hold back a smile. Sure, they hadn’t fought since that time at Resistance House, but they’d never actually admitted that they were sick of fighting with each other. “I am, too,” she said as she took her magic stick back.

The room around them was completely silent for a moment as everyone took in this sudden change of status quo, and then it erupted in shouts and arguments. “How can you _possibly_ say that?” Hux yelled. “You two have been fighting for _years._ Since when do you not hate each other?”

Ben shrugged, and Rey bit her lip to keep from laughing. _I’ve been wondering the same thing lately,_ she thought.

_Me too,_ he replied. She felt her eyes widen. She hadn’t meant to project that thought to him. “It’s a waste of time,” Rey said. She felt a pang of guilt as she took in the horrified looks on her friends’ faces. Rose looked utterly betrayed, as if she’d connected the dots about Rey’s feelings for Ben. “Can we just get back to the party?” she added loudly before anyone else could try to start a fight.

“You heard the witch,” someone said from the back. “Let’s get some music going and butterbeer flowing.” A moment later, music started playing from hidden speakers placed somewhere in the room, and people started to resume the conversations they’d been having before the “duel.”

“What are you _doing_?” Finn hissed as he and Poe pulled Rey aside. “How could you agree with him? Rose thinks you’re cheating on her with Ben bloody Solo.”

“I’m not,” Rey said quickly.

“Then why did you spend a night in the Forbidden Forest with him?” Poe asked.

“It was detention,” Rey said. “Le--Professor Organa said we had to do it.” She hated having to defend her (non) relationship with Ben to her friends, and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was what was going to happen when--if--she got back to her universe with Ben Solo by her side. She hadn’t given any thought to it before, too focused on actually making it back to her universe and not what would happen after she and Ben got home. “There’s nothing going on between me and Ben Solo,” she said firmly. The lie felt heavy on her tongue. “We’re just sick of fighting. Aren’t you?”

Finn and Poe didn’t know what to say to that. “Come on,” Rey said. “It’s a party. Let’s get drunk.” If she could get them drunk enough, maybe she could sneak off to talk to Ben privately without anyone trying to stop her.

An hour and a half later, enough people were drunk to forget about Rey and Ben’s non-fight. Rose was sitting in a corner with Finn and Poe, a pile of empty bottles surrounding them. Good. If they were avoiding Rey, they wouldn’t follow her.

“I think Hux is now plotting to kill you in order to break whatever spell he think you’ve put on me,” Ben murmured into her ear as he sneaked up behind her.

“Ironic, considering it was _your_ weird Force ritual that brought us here in the first place,” Rey murmured back. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

“I have never been so ready to be in my thirties in my entire life,” he said with a grimace. In his thirties. Right. The age difference thing. Rey was sick of being a teenager too, but she didn’t like thinking about the fact that she must have looked like a kid to him.

“Let’s go,” she said nodding at the door. “I’d rather not do this with so many other people around, even if they are used to weird magic.”

As soon as they were out of the room, she pulled him into an empty closet. He pulled out the holocron and the holocron piece, and without another word, they left Coruscant School of Witchcraft and Wizardry behind.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

To his right, Phasma was wearing a tight, lacy dress that left her arms bare and dipped low enough on her chest that Ben was surprised he couldn’t see her nipples (not that he particularly wanted to). Predictably, Hux was sitting to his left, because if Phasma was with him, so was Hux. But while Phasma was in a tight, lacy dress, Hux was wearing something more along the lines of what Ben was wearing. Tight leggings tucked into boots, and an unbuttoned vest. He was holding a glass of whiskey in his hand, and a bored expression on his face. Ben couldn’t keep himself from checking Hux out. He’d never been attracted to Hux before, but _damn._

He, Hux, and Phasma were all wearing clothing that didn’t leave much to the imagination.

That didn’t bode well.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leia and the other professors spend too much time gossiping about their students, but at least Leia has the excuse of saying “I’m just trying to be involved in my son’s life!” even if she does go about it all the wrong way.
> 
> Where do you think they're off to next?


	19. How the West was won (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snoke's back, and he runs a brothel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been wondering: this Hux is hands-down my favorite Hux in this entire fic. Enjoy.

Ben couldn’t figure out why he was cold when he woke up in the next universe until he looked down and saw that he was only wearing tight leggings, boots, and an unbuttoned vest. No belt or pockets, which meant-- _Where the_ kriff _is my lightsaber?!_ It was the first time he’d ever woken up in a universe and not had it nearby. He looked around the room, frantically trying to take in the sight around him while he searched for his lightsaber. He was in some sort of bar that had an extremely limited selection of booze and few patrons at the moment (but judging by the angle of the sun peeking in through the half-doors to the street outside, it was getting late in the day and people would start showing up soon).

To his right, Phasma was wearing a tight, lacy dress that left her arms bare and dipped low enough on her chest that Ben was surprised he couldn’t see her nipples (not that he particularly wanted to). Predictably, Hux was sitting to his left, because if Phasma was with him, so was Hux. But while Phasma was in a tight, lacy dress, Hux was wearing something more along the lines of what Ben was wearing. Tight leggings tucked into boots, and an unbuttoned vest. He was holding a glass of whiskey in his hand, and a bored expression on his face. Ben couldn’t keep himself from checking Hux out. He’d never been attracted to Hux before, but _damn._  

He, Hux, and Phasma were all wearing clothing that didn’t leave much to the imagination.

That didn’t bode well.

“Are you ready for your debut?” Hux said as he took another sip from the glass and turned to face Ben.

“What debut?” Ben asked.

Hux smirked. “So nervous you’re drunk already?”

Ben frowned. _What the kriff is he talking about? What is this place?_ He looked up over the bar and saw a sign that said _First Order Saloon & Brothel. _ A brothel? What--oh. _Oh. KRIFF._

“Now he remembers,” Hux smirked as he passed Ben the whiskey glass. “Look alive, hot stuff. Snoke will be here soon.”

_Snoke’s alive?_ The trepidation that Ben had been feeling immediately turned to full-on panic. Nothing good was going to come of this if Snoke showed up. This was the first time that Snoke had ever been mentioned, let alone played an actual role in one of these universes. And Ben was unarmed and underdressed, and Rey was nowhere to be found.

“Stop scaring him, Armitage,” Phasma said with an eye roll, taking the whiskey glass from Ben. “Like you weren’t having a nervous breakdown on your first night.”

“What are you talking about? I _love_ this job,” Hux said a little too forcefully.

Phasma snorted. “Now you do,” she said to him. To Ben, she said “It’s better to keep your wits about you. Don’t start drinking on the job until you can autopilot your way through an appointment. Snoke might hear about it, and you don’t want him to think that you aren’t up for the job.”

“Pun intended?” quipped Hux.

Ben’s face was scarlet as his mind scrambled to come up with an appropriate response. _This isn’t happening,_ he thought. It was like the Force had decided to not only pick on his complete lack of sexual history, but it also wanted to make him to face his former master and abuser. And again: Ben was unarmed and underdressed, and Rey was nowhere to be found.

Before Phasma or Ben could respond to Hux’s quip, a hush fell over them as an all-too-familiar presence washed over Ben, making him feel like insects were crawling all over his skin. As soon as he looked up and saw the former Supreme Leader, his body locked up.

“Your training is finally complete, my young apprentice,” Snoke said as he approached Ben. “Are you ready for your first appointment?”

It was going to be really, _really_ embarrassing for Rey to find out how little sexual experience he had from the kriffing universe’s decision to place him as a new prostitute first night on the job, but he was too far gone with panic to really give a shit about that right now. _Rey,_ he said, reaching out across the bond. _Help. Snoke’s back._

 

* * *

 

Rey woke up alone on the porch of a small house. She paused a moment to take a deep breath of fresh air before taking stock of her surroundings. It was eerily quiet; she wondered how far it was to the closest town.

She figured that she was in a more primitive universe, based on the lack of electronics or motorized vehicles. There was a small barn a little ways away from the house, and there was a lone horse standing in the field. Rey sighed. The universes where she didn’t have access to electronics were always so much more boring.

At least she’d be able to defend herself if someone came looking for trouble, she realized. She had two belts, a blaster hanging off of one and her lightsaber hanging off of the other. And the rest of her clothing was sensible, too: loose tan trousers, brown boots, a long-sleeved blue shirt, a brown vest, and a bandana tied around her neck.

Feeling like it was a waste of time to stand around on the porch staring into the sky, Rey turned and went inside the house. Ben wasn’t anywhere nearby, but she wasn’t too worried. She knew she could find him if she needed to, and anyway, it was getting harder and harder to spend time with him without getting _weird_ about it. She was in no rush to find him until she found the holocron piece.

Rey was humming to herself as she dug through a chest in the bedroom of the house when she hear Ben say the three most terrifying words she’d heard since leaving their universe: _Help. Snoke’s back._

_Where are you?_ she shot back, already running out the door. _I’m coming to find you._

He didn’t respond in words, but she felt the unmistakable feeling of panic coming from him. Rey had never been so grateful for the amount of time they’d spend in universes that relied on horses for transportation as she was in that moment, where she didn’t have to worry about figuring out how to make the horse go in the direction she wanted as she hopped on. She threw her senses out in an attempt to figure out where the hell Ben (and Snoke) were. She’d never actually tried to track him with it, but there was no better motivator than hearing “please help me” from the bondmate she was stupidly in love with. 

Luckily, the horse seemed to have a psychic sense of his own. (Either that, or there was some sort of Jedi mind-trick thing Rey was doing without realizing it.) He galloped off in the direction Rey sensed Ben was in, moving like he knew exactly how urgent it was. And forty minutes later, Rey came up on a small town. She’d seen more and more houses as she neared the town, and a little while ago she had crossed train tracks leading into the center of town as well. _Where are you?_ she asked Ben.

_The First Order Saloon,_ he said. _...and brothel._

_Brothel?!_

_Just hurry up and get here, please_ , he said. _I don’t know where my lightsaber is._

She supposed that she should probably have felt a little more worried about the prospect of facing down Snoke again, but she was too overcome with panic about Ben’s safety while he was alone. Together, they could take on the most powerful Force user either one of them had ever encountered. They’d already proven that once, and that was without all of the time they’d spent fighting their way from universe to universe together. 

The benefit of trying to find a saloon (and brothel) in a small town was that there wasn’t much to search, and before she knew it, Rey was leaping off of her horse and running in, saber drawn. Fuck their “no more lightsaber duels until we get home” rule. Snoke was threatening Ben.

Something in Rey knew that she had to make an entrance into the saloon, so she kicked the doors open as she reached into her belt for her lightsaber. Unfortunately, she overestimated how heavy the doors were, and she ended up more or less falling into the saloon as she attempted to pull her saber out of the belt holster, destroying her chances of making any sort of imposing entrance. _Kriff._

It was worth it, though, to see the look on Ben’s face as she caught her balance and charged in, lightsaber blazing. “It’s over, Snoke,” she shouted. “We took you down once. We can do it again.”

It was a weird role reversal of their fight on the _Supremacy_ all those years ago. Ben was still stuck in the role of Snoke’s apprentice (albeit in an arguably more disturbing way than before), but Rey was the one who was armed, and Ben’s lightsaber was on the bar counter just behind Snoke. 

The former Supreme Leader just laughed. “What do you think you’re doing, ranger?” he said. “Kylo Ren here has entered into this agreement of his own volition. I’m just here to make sure his debut goes as smoothly as planned.”

Rey felt a pang of pain and rage from Ben as the mention of his former name, and she pulled her lips back in a snarl. “Like hell he has,” she said. “His name is Ben Solo, and he’s _mine._ ” She didn’t know who was more shocked at the words: her, Ben, or Snoke.

Snoke’s features twisted into a smirk. “You think you can stop me? You’re just one lone ranger. I’m the person running this whole town.” It was only then that Rey realized that a number of other men and women in the saloon had stood up and were holding guns pointed at her. _Kriff._ She had to distract Snoke long enough for Ben to grab his lightsaber. 

“I dare you to come here and say that to my face,” she said. The words didn’t _really_ make sense--they were already in the same space--but she figured that her best bet was to taunt him into forgetting about Ben long enough for him to arm himself and join the fight. “We already took you down once,” she said. “We can take you down again.”

Snoke frowned. “Again?” he said. He started to step closer to Rey, as if he could figure out what she was talking about by standing close enough to her.

“That’s right,” Rey said, a feral grin on her face. “Again.”

 

* * *

 

Ben could barely believe his eyes as Rey challenged Snoke. For _him._ And sure, she probably only meant to say that he was hers because he was the only way she could get home, but it still made his heart race.

Or maybe that was just the panic attack he’d been having ever since he woke up and realized that Snoke was trying to auction off his virginity.

He was so caught up in the sight of Rey coming to his rescue that he didn’t notice the way that she was trying to distract Snoke until she all but shouted down the Force bond _For kriff’s sake, Ben, your lightsaber is on the bar behind Snoke!_

He whipped his head around to look at where his former master had been standing and spotted it on the bar. _Wow,_ he thought. _This really_ is _a reversal of the fight on the_ Supremacy. His connection to the Force was just as weak here as it was in every other universe they’d been to since leaving theirs, but it twitched and started to slide towards his hand as soon as he held it out.

Snoke must have retained some sort of Force-sensitivity here, though, because he whipped around and held out a hand, stopping the lightsaber in its path. “What do you think you’re doing, _apprentice_?” he hissed.

“I am not your _apprentice,_ ” Ben growled. “Not anymore.” He lunged for the lightsaber, completely beyond rational thought. He would rather die in the middle of some Forceforsaken universe dressed as a prostitute than go back under Snoke’s control.

Snoke’s face twisted into a snarl. He opened his mouth to say something to Ben, and then stopped, his eyes going wide. _I recognize that expression,_ Ben thought as he noticed the blue glow of Rey’s saberstaff piercing Snoke’s chest. His former master froze before slumping over, the blade snapping into Ben’s outstretched hand.

He looked up and saw Rey, her face wearing an expression he hadn’t seen in a long time. _Snoke’s dead,_ he said to her. _Again._

Predictably, since this showdown was repeating history, the men and women holding Rey and Ben at gunpoint hadn’t relaxed their stances. Rey froze, suddenly aware that she was unarmed and in serious danger. There was no telling how effective the weapons of this universe were. Ben shut her saberstaff off and tossed it to her, Force-pulling his own into his hand as he leaped over barstools towards her. They dropped into defensive positions, ready to fight.

A sudden gunshot from the direction of the bar made everyone whip their attention towards Phasma, who was standing on the bar, holding a gun raised towards the ceiling. Ben didn’t want to know where she had been hiding the gun. Hux was frozen, his whiskey glass halfway to his mouth.

“You guys can’t possibly be angry that Snoke is dead,” Phasma said to the room. “All he did was rule our tiny one-horse town in terror.” She looked over and spat on his corpse before addressing Ben and Rey. “Thank you,” she said. She looked around at the in-universe equivalent of the Praetorian guard. “You want to fight them? You’ll have to fight me as well.”

The men and women exchanged glances, then lowered their guns slowly. “You make a good point, Miss Phasma,” one of them said.

“So what now?” another asked.

Ben and Rey exchanged glances. _Do we really need to be here for this?_ he said.

Phasma looked at Ben and grinned. “I think the ranger is sheriff now.”

_Ranger?_ _Oh, Rey._

Rey finally relaxed her stance. “I don’t want to be sheriff,” she said. “The job is all yours.”

Phasma smiled, as if that was the answer she was waiting for. “Good,” she said. “This town is mine now, fuckers.”

  

* * *

  

Rey let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as Phasma took control of the room. There was only one thing left for her and Ben to do. “Come on,” Rey said, holding out her hand to him. “Let’s get the kriff out of here.”

Rey’s horse was big enough to carry both of them, and Ben wrapped his arms around her waist when he got on behind her. He held on tight, and she got the feeling that it wasn’t because he was afraid of falling off the horse. She didn’t say anything; she found that she didn’t mind and anyway, he was hurt and scared and angry and if this made him feel even a little bit better, she was more than happy to let him hold her.

Her house--or at least, the house she had woken up in--was a forty minute ride to the town when it was just her, but with the added weight of Ben, it took them an hour to make it back. Which gave her a lot of time to think. And a lot of time to feel. And digesting feelings was not exactly one of Rey’s strong suits. _This universe is bullshit,_ she thought. _This Force spell is bullshit. The war is bullshit. Feelings are bullshit. Everything is bullshit._

And really, where the hell did the Force get off on throwing them in a universe with Snoke? _The Force is bullshit, too._ Rey was having a hard enough time with the fact that they had suddenly had a replay of the fight on the _Supremacy_ , way back when they’d first met. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for Ben.

Which made her angry, she realized. And it was _her_ anger, too, not his. She knew that Ben was feeling just as fucked-up about everything as she was, but she was so deep in her own feelings that she was barely paying attention to his.

Because you know what? It wasn’t fucking fair. None of it. It wasn’t fair that she had been sold off for kriffing _drinking money_ when she was a child. It wasn’t fair that she had spent _years_ slaving away on Jakku, waiting for a family that wasn’t coming back. It wasn’t fair that the only thing that got her out of there was a galactic war that she ended up in the middle of because the Force decided that out of all of the beings in the galaxy, _she_ was the sole being responsible for maintaining the light side of the Force. And it _definitely_ wasn’t fair that she was stupidly in love with her counterpart in the dark who didn’t love her back, at least not in the same way that she loved him.

Her counterpart, who had a lot of _not fucking fair_ things of his own. It wasn’t fair that he had been written off as “just like Vader” by his family before even getting a chance to prove them otherwise. As much as she admired Leia, it wasn’t fair that she’d had to choose between running the galaxy and raising her son, and hadn’t chosen her son. It wasn’t fair that Luke kriffing Skywalker, the hero of the light, had made a mistake with Ben that permanently changed him and the course of the entire galaxy. It wasn’t fair that Snoke had been manipulating Ben since he was a child, and it definitely wasn’t fair that Snoke had manipulated him into murdering his own father and then _taunted_ him for the effect it had on him.

(Actually, It wasn’t fair to either of them that they were both steeped in so much trauma. _Trauma is the most bullshit thing of all._ )

In short, Rey was angry and lovesick and confused and all-around _sick of this shit._

“Where are we going?” Ben’s voice sounded rough in her ear. Rey wondered if he had been crying.

She was, she suddenly realized. She wiped tears off her face and said, “Away from here.”

“We’re riding out into the middle of nowhere,” he said.

“My house--I think it’s my house--is out this way,” she said. “And there’s something I need to do.” She didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t ask. He just kept holding on as they rode up and past her house out onto a plateau that looked out at the land around them. Rey finally slowed the horse down to a stop and Ben hopped off. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but it felt like he was reluctant to let her go, so she took his hand in hers and led him to the edge of the cliff.

“We’re not about to jump, are we?” he asked. “It’s a long way down.” 

Rey shook her head. “We’re not about to jump,” she said, turning to face the open land around her. Without explanation, she opened her mouth and let out a wordless, ear-splitting scream.

 

* * *

 

Ben didn’t know what he was expecting Rey to do as she led him to the edge of a cliff, but it wasn’t screaming. 

Not a battle cry. He’d heard her battle cry. (He loved her battle cry, even when it was aimed at him.) No, this was something else. Something deep and emotional and nameless. (Well, maybe it was something that normal people had a name for. Ben had never really been taught how to handle emotions properly.)

Finally, her screams died down as her lungs ran out of air. “I’m impressed by your ability to make so much noise and all,” he said, “but what the hell was that about?”

“Something I used to do on Jakku when everything started to feel like too much,” she said. “You destroy things. I climb up hills and scream.”

He winced. Destroying things in frustration was a habit he needed to break. “Does it help?" 

“Sometimes.”

He looked at her standing on the edge of the plateau, then stepped forward, cupped his hands around his mouth, and let out a wordless yell, trying to pour every nameless emotion he had out in it (if that was even a thing you could do with emotions--again, Ben had never really been taught how to handle emotions properly). He stopped when he felt the ground shake beneath him. His eyes slid over to where Rey was standing, watching him. He couldn’t read the expression on her face.

“I think you made the rocks move,” she said.

“Probably,” he agreed.

“How does it compare to destroying starships?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think any amount of screaming or breaking things is going to solve this.”

_Solve what?_ He couldn’t tell if she’d intended to project that thought or not.

Either way, he didn’t know how to answer it. One of the only emotions he could name was anger. Old, deep-rooted anger. It had been turned inward on himself for so long that he almost didn’t recognize what it felt when he turned it back out onto the things he was actually angry at.

Snoke was an obvious one. He’d thought he’d processed all of his feelings there, but being faced with his former mentor--and abuser; he could recognize that now--brought a lot of old trauma and anger back to the surface. And he was angry that Rey had gotten dragged into it, just like he was still angry that Snoke had gotten his claws on her the first time they’d faced him together. 

Not that Rey needed his help. Which was confusing, because he knew that she was fully capable of taking care of herself, but he still wanted to protect her against things like Snoke and war and shitty parents who abandoned their children, whether it was because they were so desperate for alcohol that they sold their daughter off or because they were too busy saving the galaxy to save their son.

Which was stupid, anyway, because what was the point in loving her if he couldn’t figure out how to do it properly? Clearly he’d never loved anyone properly, because they all abandoned him in the end. And he was equal parts dying to get back to his home universe and dreading it, because as soon as they didn’t need to rely on each other to get home anymore, she would leave him behind without a single glance back at him.

Rey seemed to realize something, because she stepped closer to him with an expression that was almost a smile and whispered in his ear, “Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too.” 

_I feel it, too._ Why, of all the words in Basic, did she have to choose _those_ ones?

Something in his brain hit a tipping point. It was either break down crying, or burst into hysterical laughter. And he chose laughter, because it was easier to go into hysterics than it was to show some semblance of vulnerability. 

Rey stepped back and reached a hand out tentatively, like she was afraid to touch him in case his hysteria was contagious. “Ben?” she said uncertainly. “I was joking. I didn’t mean--”

“How can you _possibly_ feel the same way as me?” he said, looking up to meet her eyes. “I’m _completely_ in love with you.”

He hadn’t meant to let the words slip. It was going to make everything horrible and awkward and with the way they were stuck together for the rest of the foreseeable future, they were never going to move past it and everything was ruined and--

“You are?” she said, stepping closer. Ben blinked. _That_ wasn’t the reaction he was expecting.

“Of course I am,” he said. “How did you _not_ know? We share a psychic bond and I can’t keep my feelings hidden for shit, even from normal people.”

She bit her lip, then seemed to make up her mind about something. “Honestly? I’ve been busy trying to convince myself that I’m not completely in love with you.”

Ben was barely breathing when he said “How’s that going for you?" 

“I failed,” Rey said as she reached up to pull his face down to meet hers. “I’m completely in love with you, too.”

His brain short-circuited as her lips met his. It wasn’t like Ben had never kissed anyone before, but that had been a long time ago, and he had never kissed anyone he felt this strongly about. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He had dreamt about this--they both had, actually--but even his dreams had never come close to capturing how dizzying it was to finally kiss Rey.

“But seriously,” he said, pulling back suddenly. “How did you not know I was in love with you? I literally offered you the galaxy.”

Rey blinked. “That wasn’t a declaration of love,” she said. “That was a job offer and an insult.”

He opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Now that he was playing back the words in his head, it _had_ been a bit of a mixed message.

To his surprise, Rey burst into laughter. “Wow,” she said. “For two people who share such a strong Force bond, we are _terrible_ at actually communicating.”

Ben couldn’t help but to let out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

 

* * *

  

_Next time…_

“Stop thinking so loud,” she said in between kisses.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “It’s just a lot to process.”

She paused and pulled back a bit. “Yeah,” she said. “It is.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it right now?”

He thought about it. They’d talk about everything eventually. But more importantly… “Remember that shared dream?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the whole ‘auctioning someone’s virginity off for money’ wasn’t a thing in old west brothels as far as I can tell, but then again, neither were male prostitutes, and there had to be a Virgin Kylo Ren joke in here somewhere.
> 
> Ima be serious for a moment and say that despite being so difficult to write, this was one of my favorite chapters to plan because of the weirdness of the concept of the First Order being a brothel, and then going from that to the first (non-dream) reylo kiss (FINALLY - slow burn is slow for us authors as well!).


	20. How the West was won (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our two favorite nerfherders FINALLY get it on!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, your comments and feedback were SO WONDERFUL for the last chapter!! It was a tough one to write (as was this one) and it means so much to me to hear that you enjoyed it!
> 
> As the summary implies, if smut isn't your thing, skip to the end notes for a summary.

For someone who had spent the majority of his life avoiding physical contact, Ben was finding it surprisingly difficult to let go of Rey. Not that it mattered; she seemed just as reluctant to let go of him as they walked back towards the little house and stable. They let go of each other for long enough to take care of the horse (Ben didn’t want to add ‘animal neglect and cruelty’ to his list of sins), then she led him into the house. 

“I assume this is my house,” she said as she shut the door behind them. “There’s no one else--” She stopped speaking with a squeak as he pulled her into a kiss. ( _She loves me,_ a part of his brain sang. _She actually loves me._ ) She responded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and running her fingers through his hair. He smiled into the kiss as he caught the stray thought _Wow, his hair is as soft as it looks_.

They had a lot of things to talk about, he knew. Like everything that had just happened in town with Snoke and then outside on the ledge. And it was nearly impossible to hold back every single thought he’d ever had about her now that he knew that she loved him. Ben had never been much for tact or subtlety, but even he knew that it was a bad idea to just dump everything on Rey like that. Besides, she probably had plenty things of her own to tell him. (He hoped. He wanted to know when she fell in love with him, or what she’d thought the first time they’d met, or a thousand other things about their relationship. And what were they now, anyway? Partners? Girlfriend/boyfriend sounded too limiting for what they had between them.)

“Stop thinking so loud,” she said in between kisses.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “It’s just a lot to process.”

She paused and pulled back a bit. “Yeah,” she said. “It is.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it right now?”

He thought about it. They’d talk about everything eventually. But more importantly… “Remember that shared dream?”

She turned bright red, which Ben found absolutely endearing. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she said.

“What are you sorry about?” he said. “It came from my brain.”

“No it didn’t,” she said. “It came from _my_ brain.”

Neither of them said anything as they processed this. “So that means--” Ben said.

“Bedroom,” Rey said. “Now.”

 

* * *

 

Rey didn’t want to admit how much time she’d spent fantasizing about all of the kinky things she wanted to do with Ben.

She’d tried to pretend otherwise. She tried to make her fantasies start off with a nameless, faceless person (or people; sometimes she was in the mood to share), but eventually everything led back to Ben Solo. She would admit that it had been driving her crazy ever since that shared dream ages ago, but if she was being honest, the attraction had been there from the start.

Well, at least she didn’t have to hide it anymore.

She wasn’t quite ready to tell Ben any of that, though, and anyway, this wasn’t the right time for sharing the details of her kinky Ben-centric fantasies. She was a weird mix of “I trust this person with my life” and “I am terrified to do something wrong and scare him off,” and it was making her oddly anxious about the idea of finally having sex with him.

She pulled him into the bedroom, pushed him down on the bed, and climbed into his lap. His hands wrapped around her waist, thumbs brushing the sides of her ribs, and she took a moment to think _Stars, his hands are big_ before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for another kiss. He let one hand move up to rest on her upper back, and the other trailed down to cup her ass and pull her closer to him. She hadn’t had time to properly appreciate his clothing before, but she was suddenly very (selfishly) grateful that it left so little to the imagination. She ground against him, unable to hold back a sigh as she found just the _right_ pressure. 

“Fuck, Rey,” he said. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”

“So tell me,” she breathed as she pulled her vest off and threw it somewhere across the room, her shirt quickly following.

“I wanted this before I even realized I wanted it,” he said as she sucked at a spot on his neck. It was probably going to leave a mark, but he seemed to be enjoying it too much to mind. “I’ve, uh.” Something in his tone made Rey pause and look back up at him. “Okay, so I know how sex works and I’ve spent a _lot_ of time thinking about it and you, but I’ve never actually _done_ it with anyone before.” He tried to make the words sound casual, but she could tell that he was a little nervous. 

“I’ve never done it in these circumstances,” she admitted.

“Stranded in an alternate universe?”

“No, idiot,” she said, giving him a fond smile. “With someone I actually care about.” She kissed him slowly and sweetly before saying, “But I want to hear all about these fantasies of me.”

“I never really had the time to think about sex until we started getting stranded in all these universes,” he said. “But then I found the internet in that universe we keep getting stranded in.”

“There is _so much_ porn on the internet,” Rey said. She hadn’t even known some of those positions were even _possible_ before she discovered RedTube (which, confusingly, was not the same as YouTube Red) and Tumblr. Which had made her curious if there was anything like that on the holonet at home...but that was a question for another time.

“It gave me some ideas,” he said, trailing kisses down to the spot between her breasts. He reached one hand up to cup her breast, his thumb tracing circles around her nipple. She sighed and tightened her grip on his hair. He flicked his tongue over her other nipple. The sensation felt like a lightning bolt down to her core. Huh. Who knew that her nipples were so sensitive?

Or maybe it was just Ben. Yeah, that was probably it. She’d had some pretty good sex during a one-night stand a while back on Jakku, but that had _nothing_ on what Ben was doing now. And they weren’t even naked yet. _Turns out that having such a deep emotional connection and a Force bond makes a huge difference,_ she though. _Who knew?_

With their mental shields down, the barriers between their minds had fallen away, allowing little thoughts like _Force, the_ noises _she’s making_ and _I wonder what else he can do with his tongue_ slip through to each other. Upon catching that last thought, he pulled away from her breasts and flipped her so that she was laying on her back. “I’ll show you what else I can do with my tongue, if you want,” he said as he licked and nipped his way down her stomach.

No one had ever done that to Rey before. It was one of the things she hadn’t even considered until she discovered internet pornography, but it had quickly earned a high ranking on her ‘things I want to do with Ben even though I won’t admit it to myself’ list. “Yes, please,” she breathed as Ben hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her trousers. She nearly kneed him in the chest in her haste to get her trousers and undergarments off.

Fully naked now, she laid back on the bed. She’d never been particularly body-shy, but the way Ben was looking at her made her a little self-conscious. She wasn’t used to being looked at with such _reverence_. “You’re so beautiful, Rey,” he said as he leaned over her to kiss her. “You have no idea.”

“You’re not too bad yourself, you know,” she said between kisses. “It’s unfair, really. No one should be allowed to be as tall and ripped as you are." 

He let out a soft laugh, then he said, “This is not an argument you can win.”

“Let’s not argue, then. I can think of a _much_ better use for your tongue right now.”

Rey was expecting him to just dive in without much more thought, but he surprised her by taking the time to tease her. Which was nice, but also incredibly _frustrating_ because they’d already spent so much time trying to pretend they didn’t desperately want to do each other. “Fuck, you’re so wet,” he said as he nudged her thighs apart. “Did _I_ do that?”

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to,” she said breathlessly as he _finally_ put his tongue to good use. “ _Fuck,_ that feels so good.” It was amazing that he’d never done this before and yet was managing to do it so _perfectly_. Granted, he had a sort of cheat code in the form of the Force bond. Shields down, there very few barriers left between them. She didn’t even have to say anything for him to know what exactly he wanted her to do with his tongue or his fingers, which quickly followed his tongue.

It went both ways, too. She couldn’t believe how much he was getting off on this. Except that she could, because he was in her head in a jumble of _You taste so good_ and _I can’t believe this is finally happening_ and _I love the way you moan my name._ And she knew he could hear every dirty thought she was having in return.

It really _was_ amazing how much better sex was when there was actual love involved. Rey had always thought that was a bunch of overblown nonsense. She found she was happy to be proven wrong. 

She was close now, teetering on the edge of what was probably about to be the best orgasm of her life. (Which was saying something; those vibrating devices from that universe with the internet were kriffing miracle workers.) She tried to say _just like that, that feels amazing, I will literally murder you if you stop right now_ but all she managed to get out were a series of gasps and moans. She had a vague sense that he was amused by that last thought, but she was too far gone in the haze of hormones and endorphins to pay much attention to it. 

Her orgasm hit her suddenly, causing her thighs to clamp down on either side of Ben’s head unexpectedly. He let out a muffled yelp that Rey could barely pay attention to, and by the time she’d come down enough to pay attention to something other than the fireworks exploding through her body, he was pulling away and laughing quietly.

“What’s so funny?” Rey asked.

“Your thighs are really strong,” he said.

“I didn’t know your mouth was capable of doing _that._ ”

“To be fair,” he said, pulling himself back up to lay on top of her, “neither did I.” When he kissed her, she had a brief flash of surprise at the way she could taste herself on his tongue. None of her numerous fantasies about this moment had that little detail. _Huh_ , she thought. _I’m into that_.

“Still up for more?” he asked. “I mean, it’s totally fine if you’re not, I just--”

“Oh my stars, _yes_ ,” she said. “Take off your trousers.” Not very tactful, but then again, Rey had grown up by herself in the desert, so she didn’t always have the best social skills. Ben didn’t seem to be complaining, though, as he scrambled to take off his trousers (well, leggings, really; again, Rey was selfishly grateful that they left so little to the imagination). And then--

“Glad to see you weren’t exaggerating in that shared dream.” 

He turned bright red, then laughed awkwardly. “Come here, you,” he said as he leaned back over her. Rey moved so quickly that neither of them registered that she had moved at all until Ben was laying under her, pinned down under her hips. He was giving her that look again, the one that said _I can’t believe this is actually happening, is this even real,_ kriff _I hope I don’t kark this up._ Deciding that it was a moment where she should probably tap down on her sex drive for a second and be serious, she peppered his face with little kisses before capturing his lips with hers.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down on top of him before murmuring “I love you” to her. 

She pulled back and smiled at him. “I know,” she said. _I love you, too._ He shifted his hips underneath her, and she gasped. _Okay. Soft moment over._ He seemed to agree, because he shifted his hips again. And again. And again. Despite the _amazing_ orgasm he’d just given her, she was still hungry for more.

“Good,” he said, catching that thought. “Because I intend to give you as many orgasms as you can handle.” _Hundreds of orgasms. Thousands of orgasms._  

She snorted. Of course he’d be a generous lover. Soft boi Ben Solo. And he was all _hers._  

“Damn right I’m yours,” he said.

“And I’m yours,” she said. “And you’d better make good on that promise.” _Because I need you inside of me right now._  

He paused. “What is it?” asked Rey. “If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine, I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“Uh,” he said. She caught a memory of a universe with five children.

“Oh,” she said. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ve got an implant. See?” She took his hand and pressed it against the little bump on her arm where the implant sat under her skin.

“Aren’t those only good for a certain period of time? We’ve been gone for a while.”

“We definitely haven’t been gone for ten years. We’re fine. But really, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I promise.”

“Oh no, I definitely want to.” _Very much._ He shifted his hips again, and Rey realized that he was trying to line himself up against her entrance. Rather than let him struggle, she reached down to guide him. She couldn’t help taking a moment to wrap her hand around his cock, swirling her thumb over the tip. He cursed, and she smiled and bit her lip. “Rey,” he said in a voice that was nearly a whine. “Please.” _Stop teasing._

“Not sorry,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” Which was another thing she hadn’t admitted to herself until that very moment. But whatever. She guided him to her entrance and then slowly--agonizingly slowly--she sank down until he was fully in her. She was vaguely aware of the way his fingernails were digging into her back (which would probably leave marks, which was _so hot_ and yet another thing she hadn’t thought she’d be into). She paused to let them both catch their breath. Despite the fact that he’d just had three (wonderfully large) fingers inside of her, it was still a bit of a stretch. 

“Are you okay?” he asked breathlessly.

“Fantastic,” she said. “You?”

“You feel even better than I thought you would.”

“Yeah?” she asked as she trailed kisses down his neck. “How much time did you spend thinking about that?”

“More than I’m willing to admit,” he said as she shifted her hips slowly, still adjusting. “This beats the hell out of that dream, and that’s saying something.”

“I was so worried you’d-- _fuck_ , that feels so good--heard me moan your name when we woke up,” she admitted. 

“I thought I was imagining that,” he said, wrapping his hands around her hips to help guide her the way he wanted her to move. “It was so hot. _Fuck_ , I don’t think I’m going to last long like this. You feel _so fucking good._ ”

She wasn’t, either. It was that damn Force bond. It had always been a major turn-on to have a partner tell her how much they were enjoying getting her off, but with the Force bond, she was able to _feel_ how much Ben was enjoying getting her off. She sat up and placed her hands on his chest, needing the extra leverage. It was _almost_ enough. She barely had to think it before Ben was moving his hand to roll his fingers over her clit as he snapped his hips up into hers. _Fuck, he’s coordinated._ She didn’t know if she would’ve had the brainpower to multitask if she was in his position.

“Rey,” he said. “I _need_ you to fucking come.”

She had never been much for obeying commands like that--especially from Ben Solo--but damned if they weren’t the exact words she needed to hear, because the next thing she knew, she was making a noise that was embarrassingly close to a scream as she felt an explosion in her core, her muscles clamping down and her fingernails digging into his chest. He followed a moment later, sending another shockwave through her body as she felt his orgasm echo through her ( _thank you, Force bond)_.

Neither of them moved for a minute as they both caught their breath. “Holy shit,” Rey said as she finally regained enough control of her muscles to climb off of Ben. “Holy _shit_.”

 

* * *

 

“I vote we do that more often,” Ben said as he curled up with Rey after their heart rates had slowed a bit. He pressed a kiss against her sternum as she wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. It felt so good that he was on the verge of purring like a starsdamned _cat_. He doubted she was aware of how intimate of a gesture that was to him. For all his issues with his heritage, there were some traditions he’d grown up with that he’d never fully shaken off. Besides, he _did_ make it a point to take care of his hair. And usually his alternative universe selves did, too. (They both had trends that their alternative universe selves always followed. Rey’s was food. Ben’s was haircare.)

“Agreed,” Rey murmured. “I have a whole list of things I want to try with you.” 

“Do you?” he said, moving his lips up to kiss her collarbone. “I’d be _very_ interested in seeing this list.”

“Well, this isn’t necessarily the best place to try some of them,” she said as he sucked at her neck hard enough to leave a mark. Which was a rather possessive thing to do, but she’d done it first, so it was only fair that he return the favor. “This bed is awful. And there’s no shower.”

“Fair point,” he murmured against her neck. “I’m also not a fan of the lack of electricity in this house.” 

“Me either,” she said. He caught a flash of memory from her of an electric vibrating device that sounded intriguing, but with no easy access to batteries, it wasn’t something they could explore at the moment. They were both silent for a minute, and then Rey pushed herself up. Ben tightened his grip on her waist, not wanting her to leave just yet. Well, he knew she wouldn’t _leave_ leave--somehow their mutual abandonment issues had changed and now gave them both a sense of security where the other was concerned--but he didn’t want her to get out of bed just yet. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s find the holocron piece and get out of here and back to somewhere more civilized.”

Ben sighed, but he loosened his grip. Rey bent to kiss him before she rolled out of bed and pulled on her shirt. “You know you’re stuck with me now, right?” she asked

“Rey, I’ve _been_ stuck with you for a very long time,” he said as he pushed himself out of bed and reached for his pants.

“Well yeah, but I mean, after we get home.” _If we ever get home._

“Sweetheart, we’ve been stuck together since the day we met,” he said. He hadn’t registered it at the time, but he was pretty sure he’d fallen in love with her the moment he realized that she was a match for him with the Force. There were a lot of confusing emotions from that point in time, though.

She paused, and then gave him a small smile. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess we have. You are _really_ shit at introductions. You know that, right?”

He grimaced. “Considering I tried to say ‘I love you’ by offering you the galaxy and instead insulted you, I’d say it’s about par for the course.”

She snorted. “We got there in the end, though,” she said.

“Is this the end?” It didn’t feel like an end. He didn’t want it to be an end, in any case.

“The end, the beginning, the middle, whatever,” she said as she pulled on her boots. “Now come on. We’ve got a holocron piece to find.” 

As much as Ben wanted to spend the next week in bed with Rey, she had a point. Trying to get anything done by candlelight was the _worst_. And besides, he hated what he was wearing, even if it was earning him hungry looks from Rey when she thought he wasn’t looking. (It was too cold at night to not have a real shirt.) There was no guarantee that the next universe they ended up in would be any better, but he was willing to risk that rather than hang around this one.

Luckily, this universe had taken some small amount of pity on them, and they found the piece in a drawer in the kitchen without too much difficulty. “Wait,” Ben said before he and Rey placed the piece in the holocron. 

“What?” 

He took the hand that wasn’t holding the holocron piece and pressed the holocron into it. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“You’ve been after this from the beginning,” he said. “I was afraid to give it to you. I thought you’d leave me behind.” _Just like everyone else._

“Ben, we just talked about this,” she said, giving him a confused look. “You’re stuck with me. Remember?”

“Just let me have this symbolic gesture.”

He could tell she was trying to hide a smile, but she didn’t say anything else about it as she took the holocron. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.

He kissed her one last time before nodding, and then they were off.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

 Rey opened her mouth to reply, but someone interrupted her. “Captain,” said someone she didn’t recognize. She exchanged glances with Ben. Which one of them was the captain in this scenario? Their clothing didn’t appear to give any indication. She was wearing dark brown leggings that were tucked into dirty boots, a loose dirty white sleeveless tunic, a brown vest covered in pockets, and a thick belt that had her lightsaber clipped to it. She grinned as she realized that for the first time in a long time, she was wearing her arm wraps. Around her neck, she had a chain that held the holocron on it, and her hair was tied back in a braid under a floppy black hat. She reached up to grab the holocron, and it was only then that she noticed how low the tunic was cut--and that she was wearing nothing beneath it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally acknowledge the shared sex dream, they have sex, they decide that they want to get back to a universe with electricity and indoor plumbing more than they want to keep having sex, they find the holocron piece in a drawer, Ben gives Rey the holocron as a “symbolic gesture” that she thinks is silly but adorable, they move on.
> 
> No idea how long in-universe birth control implants last in the SW universe, so we’re gonna say ten years. That’s not how they work in our universe, though!
> 
> Also, I've got another mini-drabble that's going to go up either tomorrow or Wednesday, so keep an eye out for that!


	21. Brace yourselves, Jedi are coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Game of Thrones mini-AU, as written by someone who doesn’t actually watch Game of Thrones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here have an off-schedule snippet. If you missed Monday's update, go back and read "How the West was won (II)" first. This takes place at some point after that.

“This is not the nicest place we’ve ever been,” Rey said with a grimace as the sounds of men drunkenly singing very loudly in the tavern downstairs made its way into the tiny, grimy room she and Ben had rented. They were curled up fully clothed in the small, lumpy bed. Not that they didn’t want to jump each other’s bones; this universe was just very dirty and she didn’t want to risk winding up with a UTI while stuck somewhere that lacked proper medical care. 

Also, for someone who had spent the majority of her life without access to a proper fresher, Rey was surprisingly self-conscious about getting naked with Ben while she was this grimy.

“The way that this universe treats women is awful,” Ben said as he played with the ends of Rey’s hair. It took her a few moments to realize that he was braiding it, and the sensation of his fingers plaiting the strands of her hair was surprisingly soothing. “Like, I’m kind of an expert in destruction and being on the wrong side of war, and _I’m_ saying that.”

“Even at your worst, you didn’t…” Rey shifted uncomfortably, trying to figure out the most tactful way to mention the darker parts of Ben’s past. “You didn’t discriminate based on gender.”

“No, I just killed everyone regardless of what kind of person they were,” Ben said glumly, pulling his hands back from Rey’s hair. “I’m a monster.”

Rey turned around to face him. He had curled inwards on himself, like he was afraid to meet her eyes. “Were,” she said softly, reaching out to brush his hair back from his face. She let her fingers linger on his cheek, careful to avoid tracing down along his scar.

He pressed a kiss into her palm before he said in a low murmur, “I don’t deserve you.”

_Oh, hell no._ Rey pulled back her hand suddenly and sat up. “Don’t you dare say that to me, Ben Solo.” His eyes snapped to hers, and she could sense his shock and confusion as easily as she could read them on his face. “Don’t you _dare_ put me on a pedestal. That’s not fair to me, and it’s not fair to you. I’m not always a good person. And saying you don’t deserve me implies that you don’t think that you can act any better than you have in the past.”

“I don’t think I am, though,” he said, shrinking back and avoiding her gaze. “Rey, I--” She knew what he meant, even though he couldn’t get the words out. _I killed my own father._

She held back a grimace. The memory of watching Kylo Ren put a lightsaber through Han Solo still hurt. But having the context of what his life had been like, what his relationship with his family had been, and what Snoke had done to him...it changed things for her.

“I’m not going to pretend to understand what that was like,” she said softly, laying back down next to him. “I’m not your therapist.”

“Just my partner,” he murmured, leaning forwards to kiss her forehead.

“You’re not the same person now that you were then,” she said. “And--wait a minute. _Just_ your partner?” There was a chance that it was not the right reaction to have. Rey had never developed good social skills. But he was sulking, and she wanted to distract him enough to pull him out of it.

“No, not just my partner,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her. “You’re my everything." 

Rey couldn’t keep a warm smile from her face as she kissed him, putting a hand on his waist to pull him closer. “That’s more like it,” she said.

The moment was interrupted by the sound of someone falling against the door to the tiny room. “For kriff’s sake,” Rey groaned. “I hate this kriffing universe.”

“It’s weird that Phasma has a new name here, right?” Ben said. “No one ever has a new name. You and Finn get new last names, but everyone else has the same name that they do at home. So why is she suddenly ‘Sir Brienne of Tarth’?”

“Definitely weird,” Rey agreed. “But she’s gotta have the holocron piece on her somewhere.”

“What, you think she’ll propose to you again?”

“Jealous?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “Ben, I literally marked you in the most brutal, public way possible. You’re _mine_. I don’t want anyone else." 

He gave her a fond look. “We’re never going to have a normal relationship, are we?”

She snorted. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t watch Game of Thrones, so this is mostly based on what I’ve gathered from memes and discussions with friends who watch the show. I wanted to make a Sir Brienne of Tarth joke so badly, so have something that I’m pretty sure is too fluffy by about a thousand percent for anything even remotely within the realm of possibility for GOT.


	22. Jedi of the Carribbean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben end up on the horniest pirate ship in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skip this if you don’t want to read crack-smut; I’ll put a summary in the end notes.
> 
> Someone please point me in the direction of fanart of pirate!Rey and pirate!Ben.

There was a tangy scent to the air that Rey recognized from somewhere, but she couldn’t quite place it. She inhaled, trying to figure out what the scent was without opening her eyes. It wasn’t until she was sprayed with sea water that she remembered where she’d smelled it before: Ahch-To.

“This brings back memories,” Ben murmured. Rey opened her eyes and saw him standing to her left, a wry smile on his face. She was confused for a moment, then she caught a flash of a memory from him of wiping salt water off his face after an early Force bond session.

“That was probably the most confusing week of my entire life,” she said, turning to smile at him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Not the first week we were traveling from universe to universe?”

“I knew what to expect from you by then,” she said. “And I knew that I was smart enough to figure it out. I didn’t survive on Jakku for as long as I did without developing the ability to deal with unexpected situations.”

“You aren’t still surprised by me?” he said, stepping closer to her.

Rey opened her mouth to reply, but someone interrupted her. “Captain,” said someone she didn’t recognize. She exchanged glances with Ben. Which one of them was the captain in this scenario? Their clothing didn’t appear to give any indication. She was wearing dark brown leggings that were tucked into dirty boots, a loose dirty white sleeveless tunic, a brown vest covered in pockets, and a thick belt that had her lightsaber clipped to it. She grinned as she realized that for the first time in a long time, she was wearing her arm wraps. Around her neck, she had a chain that held the holocron on it, and her hair was tied back in a braid under a floppy black hat. She reached up to grab the holocron, and it was only then that she noticed how low the tunic was cut--and that she was wearing nothing beneath it.

_You’re only now just noticing that?_ Ben said to her through the Force bond. _Stars, you look good in those clothes._

She blushed. _You don’t look so bad yourself._ He was dressed in loose black trousers, knee-high boots, and a belted black vest that was partially unbuttoned, revealing a white tunic that was as low-cut as Rey’s was. He had on a black coat that had seen better days, which made Rey wonder how uncomfortable he was in the hot sun. (His discomfort was definitely her motivation for wanting to take the jacket off and definitely _not_ about her wanting to remove his clothing _at all_.)

“Captain Rey?” the crew member said, solving the mystery of who was in charge.

Rey smirked at Ben. “What is it?” she asked, turning to the crew member. 

“You’re wanted in the navigation room.”

Kriff. Where was the navigation room? More importantly, _where_ were they? They were on some sort of structure ( _a boat,_ Ben supplied) that was floating on the water. The realization that all they could see in any direction was water made Rey’s head spin. Why was the person from the desert planet the one in charge of the boat?

“Captain?” the crew member said, giving Rey a concerned look.

She forced herself to give the nameless crew member her best “show me the way” look, and she and Ben followed her down to the room under the deck on the other end of the boat. She opened the door, and then let out a gasp when she saw who was waiting on the other side of it.

“Oh, my stars, you guys,” she said as she took in the sight of Finn’s hands down the front of Poe’s trousers. “What--”

“Oh, hey Rey,” Poe said as Finn nibbled at his ear. “Wanna--oh. Hi, Solo.” He elbowed Finn, who quickly pulled his hand out of the front of Poe’s trousers and turned around as Poe hastily readjusted himself. “What are you doing here?”

Rey and Ben exchanged glances. “Someone said I was wanted in the navigation room,” she said.

Poe and Finn exchanged a glance that Rey couldn’t read. “Why did you bring Solo?” Finn asked.

Neither Rey nor Ben were surprised by this. Finn’s dislike of Ben appeared more often than not through the different universes. “He was...standing next to me when I was summoned?” Rey said. “What are we doing here?”

Finn muttered something under his breath that Rey couldn’t quite make out. Poe elbowed him again and said, “Well, I’m not sure why you were summoned,” he said. “But if you want to stay, Captain…”

Rey felt her face heat up. Was she getting invited to join in a threesome with Poe and Finn? She felt Ben’s metaphorical hackles rise as he came to the same conclusion, so she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room behind her, saying, “No, you two have fun!” in an all-too-chipper voice as they left. 

“What the hell was that?” Ben hissed as soon as Rey shut the door to the navigation room. 

“I don’t know,” said Rey. “But don’t do this stupid jealousy thing. Even if in-universe me is sleeping with them, _I’m_ not.”

“It’s not a stupid jealousy thing,” he muttered, but he seemed mollified enough to let it go. “Where do you want to start looking?”

“How big do you think this boat is?” she asked. “I’ve never even seen one before. Is it like a starship?”

“I don’t know,” said Ben. “I read about one in a story when I was kid, but I didn’t think they were real.”

She looked out at the deck in front of them. There were a few crew members wandering around, but no one that either of them recognized. “Let’s to check the room under the deck we woke up on,” she said. “Clearly the navigation room is occupied.”

He nodded, then followed as she led the way to the other side of the boat. It was difficult to walk across the rocking motion of the ship, but Rey found that as long as she didn’t think too hard about the fact that they were surrounded by water, she could manage. As someone who had grown up on a desert planet, the idea of being surrounded by so much water was hard to stomach.

To her surprise, Ben didn’t seem to find it any easier than she did, although some of his discomfort was no doubt due to the fact that they’d walked in on her friends fooling around and she’d been invited to join. “I hope we don’t have to stay here for too long,” he said. “Imagine trying to sleep on this.”

“You’ve spent so much time living on starships. How does _this_ make you uncomfortable?”

“Anti-gravity technology is much smoother than water.”

The various crew members greeted them with a muttered “Captain” as they walked by. Rey and Ben ignored them. That was a thing that captains did, wasn’t it? Rey wouldn’t know. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t think to knock on the door to the room before she opened it.

“Oh my stars,” Rey gasped as she took in the sight of a ginger head between Rose’s legs. “Not again.”

“Oh, hey Captain,” said Hux as he paused. “Want to take a turn--oh,” he added as he spotted Ben, who was staring open-mouthed at the sight in front of them.

“ _Fuck,_ Hux, why did you stop--” Rose said, but she cut herself off as she sat up and saw who had entered the room. “Oh, shit.” She grabbed the nearest thing--a dirty coat--and covered herself with it. “What are you doing here, Solo?”

There it was again. Why was Rey welcome and Ben not? 

“I’m leaving, that’s what I’m doing here,” Ben said with a scowl. Rey gave an awkward nod to Hux and Rose before following Ben out of the room.

“Remember when Rose was my girlfriend and Hux was your boyfriend?” she tried to joke as a way to break the tension.

“I try not to,” he said with a grimace. “Being a teenager around you was so awkward.”

Rey laughed. “Glad to know I’m not the only one who found that whole thing horrendously uncomfortable,” she said. 

“Tico and Hux is a weird pairing, isn’t it?”

“We’ve walked in on two couples in the space of about five minutes,” said Rey. “The whole thing is weird.” Anonymous internet pornography was one thing. Seeing people she knew having sex right in front of her was completely different.

Ben shuddered. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go look belowdecks. There must be a cargo hold somewhere on this boat.”

They made their way down to the level below the main deck, trying their hardest to avoid looking like they were completely lost. Rey wasn’t sure how flat the leadership was on this ship, which meant that there was a chance that the crew would actively question them if they looked like they didn’t know what they were doing.

After two hours of searching through what Rey assumed was the boat’s weapons supply, they decided to try somewhere else. Not recognizing any of the weapons meant that they couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t fire something off, and neither of them wanted to accidentally shoot a hole in the thing that was saving them from a deep, watery death.

“I smell food,” Rey said as they walked out of the weapons hold.

“Of course you find the mess hall,” Ben said with a fond smile. “It’s like you have a sixth sense for food.”

“That’s my secret Force power,” she joked. “I can always find food.”

“What’s mine?” he asked.

Rey stopped walking, then turned to face him. “You always have really nice hair,” she said as she reached up to touch it. He grabbed her wrist before she could run her hands through it and pulled her in for a kiss. She relaxed into the touch for a moment before pulling away. “Come on,” she said. “I’m hungry.”

She led him in the direction of the food smell, which was coming from the other end of the ship than the one the weapons hold was on. And once again, Rey was too distracted to knock on the door before she opened it, and was greeted with another sight she couldn’t unsee. 

“ _Kriff_ , you guys,” Rey hissed as she held her hands up in front of her face. “Some of us are trying to find food, here!” 

Finn paused mid-thrust in Rose, who was bent over onto the table. “Oh, hey Captain,” she said. “You didn’t seem to mind too much last week when we did this right in front of your salad.” 

_What the kriff?_ What did that even _mean_? Before Rey could ask, Finn opened his eyes and saw who exactly had walked into the room. “Not again,” he said with a glare at Ben. He grabbed some discarded clothing and flung it at Rose before pulling on a pair of trousers.

“We’re going, we’re going!” Rey said, dragging Ben by the wrist to the other side of the room. Walking in on her friends was awkward. Walking in on her friends and having them tell her that she’d stayed to watch the last time she’d walked in on them was even more awkward. But Rey was not going to let ‘awkward’ get in the way of a meal, and she figured that treating it as a total normal thing would make it easier to avoid thinking about.

“What the _hell_ is up with this boat?” Ben said as they shut the door behind them and finally found the mess hall. Or room. Whatever.

Rey bit her cheek to keep from laughing at his choice of phrasing. _What is_ up _, indeed._ “I don’t know,” she said as she took a bowl of whatever the crew cook was serving. “But since you’re so jealous, let me remind you that you are the _only_ one I want,” she added in a murmur as they sat down at a table. 

“That’s not what--” he started to say, but he stopped talking as soon as she sent a few mental images his way. She noted with satisfaction that his cheeks turned bright red as he picked up on the image of her on her knees in front of him and a moment later he sent back a sense of _Yes please_ and _you have no idea how good you look in those clothes and how badly I want to tear that vest off of you right now._ If there hadn’t been other people in the mess hall, she probably would have complied. (Although, seeing as they had walked in on people having sex three times now, she wondered if anyone on the ship would bat an eyelash at their captain disrobing in the middle of the mess hall.)

Rey was not usually one to abandon meals halfway through, but the food on this ship wasn’t great (some sort of bread soaked in an alcoholic beverage), and the thoughts and images she and Ben were silently exchanging were _distracting_ , to say the least. “Okay, that’s it,” she murmured to him as soon as she found herself shifting in her seat, wishing there was a little more friction in the leggings she was wearing. “We’re going. _Now._ ”

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t that Ben was jealous that in-universe Rey was possibly sleeping with half of the crew so much as he was annoyed that in-universe Rey was possibly sleeping with everyone _except_ in-universe him. Like, he knew _exactly_ why someone would want to sleep with her, obviously, but the idea of in-universe Rey not wanting to sleep with in-universe him was...not something he liked to think about.

“Come on,” she said, leading him back the way they came. (Fortunately, Finn and Tico had disappeared from the room they had been boning in earlier.) “I think I saw stairs back that way, and I doubt anyone is hanging around in the cargo hold that’s probably underneath this level. Which means,” she murmured as she paused to step closer to him, running her fingers under his shirt along the waistband of his pants, “we can get a moment to ourselves.”

He kissed her, but he put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away before she could deepen it. He didn’t trust his self-control enough not to try to take off her clothes immediately and considering how easily they’d walked in on other people, he didn’t want to risk getting interrupted. “Let’s go,” he said.

She led him back through to where the weapons supply room was, but he paused before she opened the door to the room. “What is it?” she asked.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he said. “What if we walk in on someone else?” 

“We need to walk back this way to get to the stairs leading belowdecks,” she said. “And I don’t think anything could be more shocking than walking in on Rose and Hux.” She pushed the door open, then stopped still. “Famous last words,” she breathed as they took in the sight of Poe sandwiched between Rose and Hux. “I didn’t even think that people _did_ that outside of porn.”

Ben had a brief moment of thinking _What kind of porn have you been watching?_ before the Rose/Poe/Hux sandwich realized that someone had walked in on them. “Oh, hey Captain,” Poe said. “Want to-- _shit._ ”

Rose and Hux, apparently alarmed at Poe’s sudden change of tone, whipped their heads over to where Rey and Ben stood frozen. There was some muttered cursing from Hux as he carefully pulled away from Poe, but Rose just rolled her eyes. “Maybe we should just invite--” she started to say before a glare from Hux silenced her. “Or not,” she muttered, slowly sitting up but making no other move to cover herself.

“We’re just going to go,” Rey said slowly as she inched her way across the room. “You guys have fun.” Ben followed her, unable to look anyone in the eye. It was weird that out of all of them, Rose was the one who thought to invite him, wasn’t it?

“I take it back,” Rey said as soon as they closed the door behind them. “Rose-and-Hux is not the most shocking thing we could walk in on.”

“What kind of porn have you been watching that you’ve seen _that_?”

She gave him a questioning look. “Don’t tell me you’ve never come across that in porn.” 

“Clearly I didn’t spend as much time as you did trying to pretend there was nothing between us.” 

She paused. “Okay, that’s fair.” She started walking again, then said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve fantasized about anyone except you, though.” 

Ben probably shouldn’t have been surprised that the words instantly chased away his jealousy, but he was. “I love hearing your fantasies about me,” he said as they descended the stairs into the cargo hold. 

She grinned at him, then something caught her attention. Ben’s, too. “Do you feel that?” she said.

“I think the holocron piece is somewhere in here.” They stared at each other, trying to weigh their desire to get off of the boat with their desire to fool around. “I hate this place,” Ben said as the sudden rocking motion of the ship made him stumble.

“We don’t _have_ to leave as soon as we find the piece,” she agreed.

Judging by the amount of loot stored in the cargo hold, Ben gathered that they were on some sort of pirate ship. He could sense Rey’s bone-deep scavenger instincts kick in as they sorted through the boxes of treasure. “Ben?” Rey said after about half an hour of searching. “Can you and your ridiculously long arms help me?”

She was facing a stack of boxes, reaching for one at the top. He smirked. She was probably capable of lifting it if she _really_ tried, but sure, he could help her out )( _out of her clothes_ , his brain supplied). He stood behind her and placed his hands on either side of hers, boxing her in. “Do you _really_ need my help?” he said as he nuzzled her ear.

“You could lend a hand,” she said as she pressed her back against him.

He snorted. “Funny,” he said, kissing the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Why did she always taste good, even when covered in sweat and humid ocean air? 

She reached one hand up to tangle in his hair, grinding her ass against him. He cursed, and she hummed. With one hand braced against the stack of boxes, he pulled the other down to unbutton her vest. He paused as his hand brushed one of the pockets. “You found the holocron piece?” he murmured into her ear.

She shivered and said, “I didn’t say I needed help _finding_ the piece.” 

He let out a soft laugh. “I love you.”

“I know.”

Vest unbuttoned, he reached into the deep neck of her shirt (which was nearly ripped in two, which didn’t really surprise him, given the nature of this universe) to cup her breast, enjoying the way it made her gasp. He doubted he was ever going to get over the fact that he could do _this_ to her.

As much as he wanted to take her up on her earlier offer, he wanted to get her off first. And as much as _she_ wanted him to take her up on her earlier offer, she wasn’t stopping him as he nibbled on her ear, tracing circles around her nipple with his thumb. She didn’t hold back the sigh that escaped her lips, and he couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, he was _never_ going to get over this.

“I swear to the Force, there’s something in the air on this boat,” she said as she wiggled her hips, eliciting a gasp from him. She pulled away suddenly but before he could react, she had spun around and was pulling him into a deep kiss. “Or maybe it’s just you,” she said. Not knowing how else to respond, he kissed her again. “Yeah, definitely just you,” she said breathlessly as he pulled back so that he could pick her up and sit her down on a storage crate. There. Much better. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he grabbed the back of her thighs, pulling her in close. 

“You drive me crazy as well, you know,” he whispered between kisses. “You and your mouth and your hands and your breasts.” He pulled her shirt off her shoulders enough to cup her breasts for emphasis, and she let out a breathy laugh. 

“At least it’s mutual,” she said, letting out a soft moan as her nippled pebbled under his fingers.

“Oh it is definitely mutual,” he said as he moved one hand up to cup the back of her head. He trailed his other hand down to the waistband of her leggings as he caught the thought _Stop teasing and kriffing touch me already_ from her. “So impatient,” he said as he dipped his fingers under the waistband. He groaned when he felt how wet she was.

“Please touch me,” she said. “Now.”

He smiled as he obeyed (because _of course_ he did, he’d do anything for her), feeling a jolt of electricity through his body as his fingers found _just_ the right spot on hers. Kriff, he loved the way she moaned as he moved his fingers in little circles around that sweet spot. It wasn’t that he’d intentionally waited around for Rey to come into his life, but he was grateful that he’d never wasted his time with anyone else before he’d met her. 

Her kisses grew sloppy as she lost herself in the sensation of a rising orgasm, tangling her fingers in his hair. He pulled back just enough to watch her face, the way she bit her lip as she tried to hold back a moan. The facial expressions she made were something he’d never considered in his fantasies of her before they’d started sleeping together.

“Fuck, Ben,” she moaned. “That feels so goo--” Her eyes snapped open and she froze as they heard a noise behind him. “Shit,” she hissed, pulling Ben’s hand away. 

“Rey?! 

Uh-oh. Ben knew that voice. _Finn._  

“You’re cheating on us with _Solo_?”

Ben knew that voice, too. _Dameron._ And--wait, who was ‘us’? He spun around to see Finn, Dameron, Tico, and Hux standing slack jawed at the sight of Rey and Ben together.

“Wait a minute,” he said as something occurred to him. “Do you mean the _five of you_ are in a relationship?” 

“See?” said Tico, swatting Hux on the shoulder. “I _told_ you we should have invited him to our relationship. He’s clearly in love with the captain, too.”

“All five of you...in one relationship?” Ben looked back at Rey, who was wearing the same confused expression he figured he was wearing. 

“I...guess?” she said. _What the kriff,_ she added silently.

“You _guess_?” Ben thought he was used to Hux’s personality being completely unpredictable, but it was still weird to hear him sound hurt over the state of his relationship with in-universe Rey.

Tico sighed loudly. “Come on, you guys,” she said, grabbing Finn and Hux. “Let’s leave them alone. We can talk about this later, once you’ve had a chance to cool off.” She winked at Ben as she pushed the three men--her boyfriends?--away from the cargo hold and back up the stairs.

Rey and Ben stood frozen for a full minute after they left. “What the _fuck_ was all that about?” Rey said.

“You have three boyfriends and a girlfriend,” he said, leaning in to kiss her neck. It was weird, but he was happy to avoid thinking about it and resume what he and Rey had been doing before they’d been interrupted. 

“Just one _partner_ , and that’s you,” she said as she put his hands on his shoulders and held him back. “Let’s go,” she said, sliding down off of the box. “I’m suddenly not in the mood. That was too weird. How are you not jealous about this? You were earlier.”

“I’m trying not to think about it,” he said, “but it was oddly reassuring to hear Tico say that I’m clearly in love with you. Because I am. In case you forgot.” 

She shot him a look, but he could tell she was trying to hide her smile. “I didn’t, but I don’t mind being told again.” She reached into the pocket where she had stuck the holocron piece, and took the holocron off of her neck to open it.

For the first time in a long time, Pewheso popped up as they prepared to lower in the piece. “I have an update,” it said.

Rey and Ben exchanged glances. “An update?” Rey asked. 

“My programming is almost complete,” Pewheso said. “You hold the final piece.”

The words triggered a whole shipload of alarm bells in both Rey’s and Ben’s brains. “You mean, we’re going home?” she said. Ben couldn’t make out what her tone of voice meant.

“Almost,” Pewheso said, sounding apologetic. “I need help to bring you back. It’s more complicated to bring you back to where we came from than it is to bring you to a new place.”

“What kind of help?” Ben asked.

“There is a man in another universe who can help you,” said Pewheso. “A doctor.”

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

There were some buildings off to his left, and to his right sat a blue box with the words “Police Box” on it. Ben frowned. There was something about that box that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something _off._

Before he could figure out what it was, the door swung open and a man in a bowtie popped out. “Oh, hello there,” he said. “I think you’re the people I’m waiting for.” 

Rey and Ben exchanged glances. “Are you a doctor?” Rey asked the man. 

“I’m not _a_ doctor,” said the man. “I’m _the_ Doctor.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Rey and Ben end up on a [pirate ship](http://www.randwulf.com/hogwarts/xGalleon.html) and walk in on Poe/Finn, then Hux/Rose, then Finn/Rose, then Hux/Poe/Rose. Rey gets invited to join every time, Ben doesn’t, then they finally get a moment to themselves and are interrupted by Rose, Finn, Poe, and Hux, who are all hurt that Rey is “cheating” on them with Ben.
> 
> I actually only wrote this so that I could make good on the “MechanicGingerJediStormPilot” joke I made when I posted the first chapter of this. This was not in the original outline when I started writing this story but a couple of weeks after I started posting it I was like ‘shit I totally have to make that OT5 joke now, don’t I.’ And then this ended up being smuttier and about 1k longer than I had originally planned on it being. Whoops, my fingers slipped.
> 
> Oh and PS - I have another bonus mini-chapter going up either tomorrow or Saturday ~~because I'm weak~~!


	23. Something isn't quite right here...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [This tumblr post.](https://kyjcren.tumblr.com/post/172796293343/au-where-kylos-ship-is-replaced-with-this)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've all had a moment of seeing a tumblr post and going 'hmmm that would be a fun fic to write,' haven't we?

“You’ve gotta be kriffing _kidding_ me.”

They stared at the vehicle in front of them. Rey was twitching with barely-repressed laughter. Ben was pissed as hell, but she thought it was the funniest place they’d been yet. It was like a carbon copy of their universe, except for one thing:

Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer had been replaced with a tiny motorized vehicle made of plastic that looked more suited to a child’s play set than the First Order.

The best part was, he was dressed in his full Kylo Ren gear (Rey was, inexplicably, dressed like a Knight of Ren), and they were standing in a ship hangar. Staring at the new TIE Silencer. Which appeared to be a child’s plaything.

Rey couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer. The more she thought about it, the funnier it got. She burst into hysterics that echoed through the empty hangar, not even registering the fact that she had fallen over from laughing so hard until Ben was leaning over her, somehow managing to be annoyed and concerned at the same time. “It’s not funny,” he muttered when he realized that she was okay.

“Are you kidding?” Rey managed to choke out. “It’s kriffing _hilarious._ Look at it. It’s _tiny._ You’re _huge._ ”

“Where is everyone else?” Ben said, refusing to answer her question. “This is eerie. We’re alone in a giant First Order hangar wearing First Order clothing and there’s no one else around.”

“Maybe we’re hallucinating,” Rey said, finally calm enough to push herself into a sitting position. “Come on. I wanna try out your new TIE Silencer.”

“Rey, no wait--” he started to say, but she was already climbing onto the little vehicle.

“It’s almost like a little car,” she said as she pressed her foot down on the tiny “gas” pedal. The thing took off--well, it took off as fast as a tiny plastic toy car could, anyway. Which made Rey burst into hysterics all over again, because _imagine Kylo Ren trying to take on enemies in this thing?_

“It’s still not funny,” Ben said as he stomped over to where Rey had stopped, laughing too hard to keep the vehicle moving.

“Ben, I love you, but you’re wrong,” she said, wheezing. Her abs were going to get a really good workout from all of this laughter. “Come on, I’ll race you to the doors.” She took off again, puttering at about the same speed as she could run. He cursed, but he didn’t try to chase her. “Vroom vroom, motherfucker!” she shouted as she tried to make the thing go as fast as it could.

That seemed to crack Ben’s bad mood a little bit, and she felt a tiny sliver of amusement from the bond. She drove through the doors, then stopped as soon as she saw what was waiting outside of them. Ben followed a couple of minutes later, not surprised to see that they were back in another version of that same universe with the internet and pizza. “It’s some sort of stage,” he said. “I don’t know why it’s set up to look like a First Order ship. But none of this is real. Not even this.” He tapped the “TIE Silencer” with the side of his foot.

Rey didn’t say anything. She still thought it was funny as hell.

Ben sat down on the pavement next to where Rey sat on the fake TIE Silencer. “You know,” he said, picking at the cowl Rey was wearing, “there was a time when I wanted to see you dressed like this more than almost anything.”

“And now?”

“I can’t believe I used to like masks so much.” He undid the latches on his helmet and took it off. Rey wanted to take hers off as well, but she doubted her hair would look nearly as good as his did. Seriously, what was it with Skywalkers and never having helmet hair?

Something caught his attention, and he frowned, looking into the helmet. “What is it?” asked Rey, leaning over to try to see what he was looking at.

“I think I found the holocron piece,” he said, pulling something out from the helmet.

“Is that a record? What’s it been, five minutes since we got here?”

“Who cares,” he said, holding out the piece for her. “Can we go? This place is so embarrassing.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't figure out a way to get a full chapter out of this, but I couldn't finish this story without making at least one reference to that post.


	24. Jedi Who

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben do some thinking and make some decisions inside a blue box floating in space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t kept up with current Doctor Who episodes, so this is the Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith). There’s a minor spoiler in this for something that happens on the show during the “50th Anniversary Special” that aired in 2013, so I’m putting a summary in the end notes on the off chance that someone reading this doesn’t want that spoiled.

The last thing that Ben remembered before waking up in a grassy field was Pewheso saying the words “a doctor.”

“What kind of doctor do you think he meant?” Rey murmured as she sat up next to him. “How can a doctor get us home?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said as he stood up and looked around. There were some buildings off to his left, and to his right sat a blue box with the words “Police Box” on it. He frowned. There was something about that box that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something _off._

Before he could figure out what it was, the door swung open and a man in a bowtie popped out. “Oh, hello there,” he said. “I think you’re the people I’m waiting for.”

Rey and Ben exchanged glances. “Are you a doctor?” Rey asked the man.

“I’m not _a_ doctor,” said the man. “I’m _the_ Doctor.”

Rey scrambled to pull the holocron out of her pocket. “Do you know what this is?” she asked, holding it out to him.

The Doctor looked at it and frowned. “No, I don’t,” he said. “I’m sorry. But come inside. There might be something in the TARDIS’s library.” He disappeared into the box, leaving Rey and Ben standing outside. 

“Do we follow him?” Rey asked. “How can three people possibly fit in that box?”

“It’s bigger on the inside,” the Doctor said from the doorway. “Come on in. It’s safe, I promise. Well, mostly safe. You’ll be fine. I think.”

 _That’s not very reassuring,_ Ben thought, but with no better options, he and Rey followed the Doctor into the box.

“Whoa,” said Rey as they entered the giant room. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was bigger on the inside. We’ve seen some crazy things, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this before.”

The Doctor just grinned. “I love seeing people react to the TARDIS. I’ve been traveling for over a thousand years and it never gets old.”

“What’s the TARDIS?” Rey asked.

“You’re standing in her!” he said, waving his arms to indicate the room around them. “Time And Relative Dimension In Space. She can bring you any time and any place in the universe.”

Rey looked at Ben. “Just this universe?” she asked.

“What makes you ask that?” the Doctor said slowly.

She held up the holocron again. “This thing has been throwing us from universe to universe for years, and now it says that you’re the only one who can direct us back to our home universe.”

 

* * *

  

Rey wondered what sort of life the Doctor led that he wasn’t surprised by learning that she and Ben came from another universe. Not that she was complaining; he seemed really excited at the prospect of helping a couple of strangers break through back to their home universe, and she wasn’t going to turn down an offer to help. Not when they were so close to getting home.

“I’ll have to do some research on this,” the Doctor said as he handed the holocron back to Rey. “And it might require some engine modifications to the TARDIS. So it may be a little while before I can get you two home.”

“How long?” Ben said. Rey didn’t know how to interpret his tone, and he had closed his mind off to her, for some reason.

“A couple standard Earth days, maybe,” the Doctor said. “Or--well, since you’re not from this universe, none of the time measurements I know of will make sense to you, anyway." 

He had a point. “What do you need us to do?” Rey asked.

“Right now? Nothing,” the doctor said. “You can stay on the TARDIS as long as you like. She’s got plenty of room. Just don’t wander off and get lost. It didn’t end well the last time that happened.”

Well that was ominous. Ben must have felt the same way because he asked, “What do you mean, ‘get lost’?”

“It’s fine. There are signs. You should be able to read them. Don’t worry about it.” He started off in one direction and pointed down another hallway. “Plenty of guest rooms down that way,” he said. “And a word of advice. The last time I traveled with a couple, they, er, gave birth to a child with Time Lord DNA after accidentally conceiving her in the time vortex. So please don’t do that. It caused a lot of problems for us.” He walked off, leaving Ben and Rey to gape at his retreating back.

“I don’t know what the hell a Time Lord is,” Ben finally said. “But I _really_ don’t think we want a Force-sensitive one of those running around.” 

Rey didn’t argue with him on that point. The idea of a baby _anything_ of theirs running around was terrifying. Thank the Force for contraceptive technology. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go find a room and lie down. I’m exhausted.” She wanted a long, hot shower, and then to sleep for the next twelve or so hours. Preferably with Ben, but something seemed to be bothering him, and she was too tired to try to get whatever was on his mind out of him. She trusted he’d tell her when he was ready.

She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and when she woke up again, Ben was gone. Without a chrono, she had no idea how long she’d been asleep, but it looked like he’d been up for a while.

Rey made her way out of the room and back into the TARDIS’s main room, wondering where she could find a cup of kaf (or coffee, which seemed to be the norm outside of her home universe) on the ship. She heard some clanking and muttering coming from one of the lower decks in the main room, so she followed the noise until she found the Doctor making adjustments to the TARDIS’s engine. “Hello?” she said, praying that she wouldn’t surprise him into breaking something.

“Oh hello, Rey,” the Doctor said without looking up from what he was doing. “Could you wait a minute? I need to concentrate.” She craned her neck to watch the Doctor as he made an adjustment with a type of tool she’d never seen before. This whole ship was weird. It felt...alive, almost. She didn’t think any sort of living being was powering the ship, but there was something sentient about it. She looked up, examining the column that led up to the main navigation deck. Just what kind of ship were they on, anyway?

The Doctor straightened up and put the tools he was using down. “Now, how can I help you?”

“Is the TARDIS alive?” She’d meant to ask for kaf, but that question popped out instead.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” said the Doctor. “She’s the last of her kind, as I am the last of mine.”

“You’re not human?”

The Doctor pointed at his chest. “Nope, I’m a Time Lord,” he said. “Two hearts.”

“Ben and I are the last of our kind in our universe,” she said. “In a way.” She was the last Jedi, but...well, they’d never really talked about it, but he’d trained as a Jedi, hadn’t he? Did that make him a Jedi, too? Did that mean that _he_ was the last Jedi, and not her?

“You must miss your home very much,” the Doctor said.

Rey nodded. “I miss my friends. My adopted family, really. But…”

“But?” 

Something about the Doctor made Rey feel like it was safe to talk to him about this stuff. She and Ben always had to pretend that things weren’t out-of-the-ordinary at all. It was strange to talk to someone without having to pretend she was stepping into another Rey’s and Ben’s shoes. “Ben and I left in the middle of a massive war, and when we left, we were leaders on opposite sides of the war.”

“That sounds complicated.”

“It is,” said Rey. “But--we’ve been traveling for so long, and there’s always been this _thing_ between us, even before we left, and at some point, the war didn’t seem to matter anymore. We didn’t know if or when we’d be getting home. And now that we’re so close to finally getting there, I don’t know what we’re going to do once we get back.” And there it was. Was this what Ben was hiding from her, this worry about what it would mean for their relationship if they arrived back home in the middle of a war?

“Are you saying that you want to stay here?” the Doctor said quietly.

Rey thought about it. _Did_ she want to stay there? There was certainly a part of her that didn’t want to return home. It would be easy to ask the Doctor to drop them off somewhere easy to live so that they could live out their days as a normal couple. Rey could picture it so clearly that she wondered if it was some sort of Force vision: settling down on a planet that was as close to their home world as possible. Finding jobs (because they had experience doing pretty much everything at this point). Growing old together. Ignoring their connection to the Force, which they seemed to rely on less and less anyway.

Pretending they hadn’t abandoned everyone and everything in the middle of a war that they both had the power to influence.

There were some topics that were still too painful to discuss. Ben’s family was one of them. So was hers. (He’d never actually said it, but she got the feeling that if her parents had still been alive, he would have hunted them down and killed them for abandoning her, which didn’t sit well with her.) It was ironic that they both shared a lot of trauma over their families and their childhoods, but they were still on either end of a “shitty parenting” spectrum.

Rey didn’t know what he wanted or expected to happen when they got home. Her plan had always been to return to the Resistance, to the family she’d made there. And the Force knew how much she wanted him to return with her. But she didn’t know if _he_ wanted that and anyway, they weren’t likely to welcome the man formerly known as Kylo Ren with open arms. Hell, she didn’t even know how she’d even begin to explain everything that had happened between them.

But…

As wonderful as the idea of settling down with Ben somewhere that didn’t have a galactic-sized war sounded, she would never truly be happy. She’d been reluctant to accept her “destiny” (or whatever) at first, but ultimately she could never leave it all behind while she still had the chance to get it back.

“Most of my people died in the Last Great Time War,” the Doctor said quietly when Rey didn’t respond. “It was my fault. I killed everyone on both sides to stop the Last Great Time War, and then I hid the history from myself.”

Rey didn’t know how to respond. This chipper man--or Time Lord--was responsible for the death of his entire homeworld?

“But I was very, very lucky,” the Doctor continued. “I was given a second chance to put it right. It was not easy. It forced me to talk to a former incarnation that I had forgotten about in my shame for what I had done to my people.” _Former incarnation? What could that possibly mean?_ “But ultimately it was the right thing to do.”

“So--” Rey started to say.

“Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same,” the Doctor said.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s insightful.”

“Isn’t it?” the Doctor said, grinning. “I heard it in an Earth pop song once. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is: I can’t tell you what to do. But for what it’s worth, I’m incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to make things right, even if it meant that I had to make some very difficult choices. Now, how about a Jammie Dodger?”

 

* * *

 

_Home._

Ben looked out at the stars, unable to keep himself from comparing them to the stars from his home universe. He hadn’t realized until just now how much he enjoyed traveling through space and looking up at the stars in all of the universes they’d been to. It was simultaneously something new and something familiar, which was probably a side effect of having spent a large chunk of his life living on starships.

 _Home._  

Rey had been exhausted, but Ben hadn’t been able to sleep. After a couple of hours of tossing and turning while she slept deeply beside him, he had gotten out of bed and wandered up to the main part of the ship. The Doctor had greeted him, telling him that he could open the doors to the TARDIS and sit and look at the stars if he wanted. “Just don’t jump,” the Doctor had said. “As long as you’re still inside the TARDIS, though, you won’t get sucked into the vacuum of space.” Ben had thought he was used to the dangers of living in the deep vacuum of space, but sitting with his legs hanging out of the door to the TARDIS was something completely different from anything he had ever done before. It was a little terrifying, but the view he got of a nebula they were passing by was amazing.

_Home._

Why was he so bothered by this? After all, wasn’t this what he and Rey had been fighting for since they’d left their home universe years ago? Getting home. Going back to where they’d disappeared from Kolb, back to the Force, back to the war, back…

 _Aw, hell._ What were they going to do with the war? He knew that Rey was going to go back to the Resistance, wherever they were hiding. That was easy. She even had a binary beacon that would lead her back to his mo--to General Organa. Ben refused to let himself think about why that bothered him so much. (It wasn’t fair to Rey that his parents liked her more than they liked him. If Rey had been listening, she would have yelled at him for thinking this, but he didn’t blame them for liking her more than they liked him. He was still learning how to like himself. It was just really difficult to rewire those connections in his brain.)

The Resistance would welcome Rey--their resident Jedi--back with open arms, but what about him? Ben didn’t want to go back to the First Order. He couldn’t resume the role of Kylo Ren. It didn’t fit him anymore, and he never wanted to go back to being that person again. But was the Resistance the best place for him? 

The unhelpful part of Ben’s brain that had never learned how to have healthy boundaries kept saying _Follow Rey to the ends of the galaxy, do whatever she wants with zero regard as to whether or not it’s actually what you want_ , but that wasn’t the solution, either.

They’d been living on borrowed time for a while now. Ben wondered if they’d both given up on getting home a long time ago. They probably would have had this conversation sooner if they’d still thought that they were actually going to get home. And now that they were actually able to get there…

He didn’t know what to do. Making big, life-changing decisions terrified him, mostly because all of his big, life-changing decisions in the past had been impulsive things like, say, kidnapping a scavenger from Jakku because he couldn’t put his finger on why she intrigued him so much (which was hilariously obvious in retrospect), luring said scavenger from Jakku out to a mysterious planet in Wild Space so that he could trick her into working with him (which was a hilarious failure in retrospect), and then confessing his love for the very same scavenger from Jakku after screaming off of a cliff together (which was a hilarious set of circumstances in retrospect).

A gentle nudge at his consciousness made him aware of Rey’s presence as she made her way to the open door where he sat staring into space. He shifted to give her room to sit down next to him, and he kissed her temple as she settled down to sit cross-legged. “I can’t believe you’re just, like, letting your legs hang off into space,” she said. “I know you’ve spent a lot of time living in space, but still. Aren’t you scared?”

He shrugged. “There are scarier things.” _Like this conversation we’re about to have._

She didn’t want to have the conversation either. He could tell by the way she tensed up as she caught that thought (kriff, he hadn’t meant to project it). “Do you really want to go home?” she finally asked. Ben didn’t answer her right away. “Do you want to stay here?” she asked quietly.

“Honestly?” he said. He felt her shift to look at him, but he kept his eyes facing out into space. “I don’t want to do anything right now. I don’t want to make a decision. I just want to keep sitting in a blue box, staring into space." 

She looked away from him. He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye. _Force, she has such a beautiful smile._ He didn’t care if she heard that thought. She must have, because she blushed (which was also a beautiful look on her, but then again, so was _literally everything_ ). “Yeah,” she said. “It is quite beautiful.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. “I’m afraid to go home,” Ben finally admitted. “I’m not saying I want to stay here, but…”

“Who knows what we’ll be going home to?” Rey murmured.

He sighed. “Exactly.”

“Do you think any time has passed there? We’ve aged at least what, four or five years?”

“We’ve been aged down to teenagers in this Force spell. What makes you think it won’t age us back to the exact ages we were when we left?" 

“Which is worse, going back to the exact day we left, or going back after all this time has passed?”

A question for a question for a question. “Either way, _we’ve_ changed since then. So even if we do go back to the exact ages we were when we left…” He trailed off as something occurred to him. “Do you think we’ll remember any of this?”

Her breath hitched. “Why wouldn’t we?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“I hope we do,” she said, shifting so that she was leaning against him. She pressed a kiss into his shoulder before resting her chin there. He could feel her breath tickling his ear as she spoke. “I don’t want to go back to fighting with you.”

“I don’t know where I’m going to go when we get back,” he whispered. “I can’t go back to...you know.” _I’m not Kylo Ren anymore._ “But I don’t think I’ll be welcome where you’re going. I’m not the same Ben Solo who left them. And there’s a lot that I have to answer for.”

“If as much time has passed for us has passed at home, it’s very likely that one of us is the galaxy’s most wanted.” _Depending on how the war has played out._ “It could be me just as much as it could be you.” 

“What, you’re not going to drag me back to your friends in the Resistance?” he said.

She sighed, but she straightened up and turned his head to face her. “I want you by my side,” she said. “Because you’re not alone and you remind me that I’m not alone, either. But ultimately, it's your choice. I won’t force you to return to them if you don’t want to go.”

Ben didn’t know how to respond to that with words, so he kissed her forehead while he tried to sort his feelings out. “I’m scared of what we’re going to go home to,” he confessed. “But I think…” Why were the words so difficult to say? “I think I want to follow you. Even though it’s going to be...difficult.”

She couldn’t hide the happiness she felt at the words. Or the fear she felt for how this was going to play out. “The binary beacon I have leads back to your mo--General Organa,” she said carefully.

He took a deep breath. That was another terrifying thing he’d have to face when he returned. He hadn’t completely forgiven her for the role she’d played in the events that had driven him to Snoke. She shouldn’t have waited until a political opponent outed her to tell him the truth about his grandfather. She shouldn’t have sent him off to Luke because she didn’t know what else to do with him. And she shouldn’t have acted like he was destined to turn into Vader 2.0, even though there was a point at which he’d wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps because he thought it was the only option he had.

But he also didn’t deserve her forgiveness for the role he’d played in the First Order’s rise to power, or the role he’d played in trying to destroy the Resistance, or what he’d done to his father.

“I couldn’t kill her, you know,” he said. “I had the opportunity after--after Han. And I couldn’t do it. There is a part of me that still loves her. Just like there was a part of me that still loved Han. I’m never going to forgive myself for that. I don’t think she’s going to forgive me, either.”

Rey was didn’t respond right away. After a few minutes of staring into space together, she said, “You can’t change the past, but you can’t run away from it, either.”

“I don’t want to anymore.” He hadn’t realized that until he’d said the words out loud. “If the war is still going on when we get back, I want to do what I can to make things right. Even if that means…” He didn’t want to say the words, but he forced himself to say them anyway. “Even if that means being punished for my crimes against the galaxy.”

She didn’t say anything, but he knew how happy she was at those words. “I’m not going to abandon you, you know,” she said. “No matter what happens." 

“If they stick me in prison, you’ll go, too?” He meant it as a joke, suddenly wanting to lighten the mood.

“I’ll go for your conjugal visits,” she teased as she wrapped her arms around his waist. It was an awkward angle and after a moment, he shifted so that he half-pulled her onto his lap. They were silent for a few minutes, then she said, “So that’s it? We’re going back together?”

“That’s it,” he said, tilting her face up so that he could kiss her.

They went surprisingly quickly from ‘deep emotional talk’ to ‘let’s get out of here and hole up in a room together’ as Rey’s fingers carded through his hair while she trailed kisses over his jaw and down his neck. She shifted on his lap, flushing as she felt evidence of his arousal. “That was fast,” she murmured against his neck. 

He let out an awkward laugh, not really sure how to respond. There was a shout as the Doctor burst back into the main room, and Rey and Ben scrambled to look like they weren’t about to go for one last pre-”going home to a war” romp. “Good news, Jedis!” he said as he clamored up the stairs. “I’ve figured out a way to get you home!”

Ben gave Rey a look. “You told him we were Jedi?”

“What else are we?” she asked. “Not the Jedi of old. New Jedi.”

“My uncle already tried that once,” he said in a low tone. "You know how  _that_ ended."

“ _New_ new Jedi, then.”

“As much as I’d love to compare notes about your universe and mine,” said the Doctor, “it’s only a matter of time before I get attacked by daleks, cybermen, weeping angels, or some combination of all three, and you don’t want to be around for that.”

Not that he had any idea of what any of those things were, but Ben agreed with him. 

“What do we have to do?” Rey asked as she stood up reluctantly.

“I need your hologram thingy,” the Doctor said, holding out his hand.

“You mean the holocron?” she asked as she pulled it out of her pocket.

The Doctor nodded, then he brought the holocron to the TARDIS’s strange center console and hooked it up to some device. “This should bring you to the exact place you left from,” he said, “although I can’t guarantee that. The TARDIS sometimes has a mind of her own, and inter-universal travel is difficult.” 

“I hope no one stole our ships,” Ben murmured to Rey as he stood up.

“Are you ready to go?” the Doctor asked.

Ben and Rey exchanged glances one last time. “Yeah,” she said, smiling at him. “Let’s go home at last.”

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

They stepped out onto the abandoned city where Ben had originally activated the weird Force ritual. The blue box faded a moment later with a strange noise, leaving them totally alone. “Well, we still remember everything,” Rey said. “Right?”

Ben frowned at her. “Who are you?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes and elbowed him. “Not funny, Ben.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Rey and Ben meet the Eleventh Doctor, who has the power to help them get home. He offers to drop them off somewhere in his universe if they don’t want to go back to a war. Rey and Ben both think and talk about this but ultimately, they decide that they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if they just walked away.
> 
> Here’s [the pop song that the Doctor references](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iD_xaJeNIs) and a [Jammie Dodger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammie_Dodgers) is a British cookie that the Eleventh Doctor likes.
> 
> So we all know that this is reylo endgame, but any guesses as to who else might be endgame when they get home? What changes do you think happened back home? They’ve been gone for almost five years at this point...and a lot can happen in five years.


	25. Is home really where the heart is?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After five long years, Rey and Ben _finally_ make it home. And fives years is a long time to be gone when you’re at the forefront of a galactic war...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was *this* close to maintaining a twice-a-week update schedule, but the combination of "much reduced free time" and "wow endings are, like, really hard to write" got to me. Next update will be next Monday instead of Thursday. Sorry about that!

For the first time in all of their alternate universe travels, they didn’t black out as they moved from one place to the next. The TARDIS made some strange (and unnerving) noises, and there was some worrisome jolting, but before Rey knew it, they were opening the door and looking out at Kolb. 

“I apologize,” the Doctor said. “I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t have much time before I have to return to my own universe. I wish you the best of luck with your travels and your war, and if you have any accidental Time Lord babies, good luck with them. We’re a handful lot.”

Neither Rey nor Ben knew how to respond to that last comment, so they murmured their thanks and stepped out onto the abandoned city where Ben had originally activated the weird Force ritual. The blue box faded a moment later with a strange noise, leaving them totally alone. “Well, we still remember everything,” Rey said. “Right?”

Ben frowned at her. “Who are you?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes and elbowed him. “Not funny, Ben.”

He grinned, but it faded a moment later as he said, “Where did you leave your ship?”

“I don’t know if it’s still here,” she said. “I didn’t disable any trackers on it. Someone may have come looking for me, if we didn’t come back to the exact moment we left. Where did you leave yours?”

“I disabled all of the trackers, and I took a ship that wouldn’t be recognized as a First Order ship,” he said. “I hope it’s still where I left it.”

They made their way out of the abandoned city and back towards Ben’s ship in silence. Rey’s head was spinning with the fact that they were finally _home_ , but they had no idea what exactly they were coming home to. As suspected, her ship was gone, but Ben’s was untouched except for a note that said _I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let the Jedi go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you_.

“Well that escalated quickly,” Ben said. “I’m assuming it was one of yours?”

Rey took the note from his hand and frowned. “I have no idea who could have possibly left this,” she said. “But whoever it was, they weren’t fucking around.” She put the note down, then pulled the binary beacon out of her pocket. “Are you ready to go?”

They started up the ship, and it was only when Rey went to plug the beacon’s coordinates in that they thought to check the calendar. “Ben,” she said, pointing at the date. 

“That’s exactly five standard years from when we left,” he said. “That’s…” He trailed off, but Rey knew where he was going with the statement. 

“There’s only one way to find out what’s changed,” she said. They plugged in the coordinates and hit _go_ , praying that they weren’t walking into a galaxy that had been completely ravaged by war.

Neither of them spoke as they left Kolb and entered hyperspace. “We’ve got about twelve hours before we make it back to wherever we’re going,” Rey said as Ben put the ship on autopilot. “We should get some rest while we can.”

 

* * *

 

Predictably, even though they both intended to actually rest, they ended up making creative use of the ship’s small bunk instead. There was an undercurrent of _we don’t know what we’re walking into_ that carried the somber implication that they weren’t going to be able to have time to themselves for a very long time so they had to make use of the moment. 

“I’m scared,” he confessed as they lay curled up together afterwards. 

“I know,” she murmured. “Me, too.”

“I can’t believe we made it back,” he said. “It all feels like some bizarre fever dream.”

“Imagine trying to explain the concept of a subway train.”

“Or our lightsabers being replaced by magic sticks." 

“That was a weird way to find a holocron piece,” she said with a laugh.

“It was all weird,” he said.

“Would you go back and change of any of it, if you could?” she asked softly.

“Well, the entire point of me triggering that stupid Force spell in the first place was to get your attention, so no. I could have done without the government conspiracy universe, though.”

Rey laughed. “You really don’t half-ass anything, do you?” He felt his face heat up, but she placed a kiss on his jaw before murmuring, “For what it’s worth, I don’t regret it, either." 

Ben found himself blinking back tears, even though he couldn’t say _why_ he was blinking back tears. “Hey,” Rey said, gently brushing a tear away. “I meant what I said. I won’t abandon you. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out. What we’ve been through should be proof enough of our ability to survive.” He kissed her palm, and she whispered, “You’re not alone, remember?” 

“Neither are you,” he whispered back.

“I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

 

* * *

  

Not for the first time in her life, Leia Organa was planning her retirement from galactic politics. Only this time, instead of retiring to spend more time with her family, she was planning on retiring to go live out the rest of her days as a hermit, much in the same way that her brother had. She had given her life to fighting to make the galaxy a better place, but she was getting old, and she’d already lost enough people to the fight.

Rey was never coming home. She was finally beginning to accept that. It had been five years, and there was no sign of her anywhere in the galaxy or in the Force. Leia might not have trained in it as much as Luke had, but she was still a Skywalker, and she was able to navigate a little bit based on instinct. 

And since Rey was never coming home...neither was her son. Leia had thought that she’d accepted that long ago, but a part of her must have been holding out hope. She assumed that they had had a showdown somewhere and in the resulting battle, they’d done something to erase both of their presences from the Force. For a long time, Leia believed that they were still alive--after all, she hadn’t felt them passing--but it was time to accept that they were gone for good.

But…

There was something unfinished, her instincts told her. Even though the facts said _give up_ , her instincts said _don’t lose hope._ She hadn’t gotten rid of the partner to the binary beacon she’d given to Rey. And she sensed that today was the day that things would change.

As Leia was organizing her papers in preparation for her retirement, Poe came bursting into the room she’d claimed as an office. “General,” he said, his eyes wild. “Come quick.”

“Why the big rush?” she said as she stood up and followed him out. _Something_ was happening. “It can’t be...can it?”

“We don’t recognize the ship, but we recognize the signal,” Poe said as they ran out towards where an unmarked ship was preparing to land. 

“Rey,” Leia whispered as she tuned into the Force. “And…” _No. It can’t be. It’s just wistful thinking on your part._ “She’s alive,” she said to Poe, refusing to entertain the thought that Ben was there, too. “She’s _alive._ ”

Maybe today was a bad day to retire from politics, after all.

 

* * *

  

Rey couldn’t remember the last time she and Ben had felt so tense as they landed on some planet she’d never heard of before. They hadn’t been shot down on sight, which was a good sign, considering they were in an unmarked, unfamiliar ship. Rey could see a few figures running out to greet the ship, but she was too overwhelmed with the sense of panic and tension radiating from Ben (and from herself, she realized) to focus on anything other than just landing safely.

He turned off the engine and they sat in silence for a moment as they adjusted. They’d both gotten so used to the reduced Force sensitivity they’d had in other universes (Ben once said it had something to do with midichlorians not existing in other universes, whatever that meant) and suddenly being thrown back into their normal level of Force-sensitivity was like being very stoned.

“Agreed. I feel glued to this seat,” Ben mumbled.

“They’re probably going to start shooting at us or something in a minute if we don’t move,” Rey slurred.

“There’s _so many_ of them.”

It was still another minute before they both pulled themselves up out of their seats. Some of the heaviness they both felt was due to anxiety, Rey knew. “Come on,” she said, reaching for Ben’s hand. “We’re braver than this. We literally fought our way through hundreds of alternative universes. We can face this, whatever this is.”

“You go first,” he said. “If they see me, they’ll probably try to blow the entire ship up.”

He had a point. She took a deep breath, and exited the ship.

The first face she saw was Finn’s as he nearly tackled her in greeting. “Rey,” he breathed. “You’re _alive._ ”

She couldn’t keep a goofy grin off her face as she hugged him tight. Of all people to greet her first when she arrived back home, her first friend was the most welcome sight she could see. “I’m alive,” she said. There was a shout from someone else nearby, and he let her go. “It _is_ you, right?”

“Of course it’s me,” she said. “Who else would it be?”

“I’m sure that somewhere in this galaxy there’s a shapeshifting race of beings.” 

“I promise it’s me,” she said, grinning. She realized that the other person who had shouted her name was Poe as he pushed Finn away and gripped her by the shoulders, inspecting her face as if he was worried that she was a droid in a really convincing disguise.

“It _is_ you,” he finally said. “Rey, we thought…”

“We thought you were gone,” a third voice said from behind Poe. _Leia._ Poe stepped back to let Leia embrace Rey. “I couldn’t feel you in the Force,” she said. “You, or…”

“We were gone,” Rey said. “It’s...I’m not sure how to explain it. But now we’re back, and--”

“Wait a minute,” Finn said. “Who is ‘we’?”

 

* * *

  

Ben had done a lot of terrifying things in his life, but nothing compared to walking off of the ship and into what was left of the Resistance. Or...was it? The energy from the base around them felt too relaxed for the middle of a war. But then again, he was still reeling from the sensation of being back to full Force strength in his home universe, so maybe he was just imagining things.

Nobody spoke as he descended the ramp and locked eyes with Leia. _Mother._ He could barely discern the emotions coursing through himself, let alone read the ones displayed on Leia’s face. He paused a few feet from her, not sure what to say. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Finn reaching for a weapon, but Rey put her hand on his arm as if to silently ask him to stop.

“Ben,” Leia whispered.

He opened his mouth intending to say something meaningful, but what ended up coming out was, “Yep, that’s me.” _Now I have a new contender for ‘stupidest thing I’ve ever said to someone during a moment of intense emotional pressure,’_ he thought. He heard Rey snort somewhere off to the side, which broke whatever weird moment he and Leia were having. 

“I think there’s a story to be told here,” Poe said slowly.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Rey said.

“More than one story, by the looks of it,” Leia said as she finally looked away from Ben. “Did you run away to be together, or did that happen later on?” 

There was a beat, then Poe and Finn erupted in a flurry of “What are you talking about?” and “There’s no _way_ they’re together” overlaid with Rey’s “Oh it _definitely_ happened later on” and Ben’s simple “Yes, kind of.”

Leia held up her hand to silence everyone, then she said, “Let’s go. We probably don’t want to have this conversation out here. Finn, can you go alert--” 

“Already on it,” he said. He gave Rey one last disbelieving look before he turned and headed off in a different direction than the one Leia was leading them in. 

At some point on the walk to Leia’s office, Rey’s hand found his. _This is...much calmer than I expected,_ she said to him.

_It’s weird, right? It doesn’t feel like a war base._

_Do you think this means…?_

_I hope the war is over,_ he said. That was definitely the best case scenario for them: a peaceful galaxy. It was probably never going to happen, but they could hope.

There was one more surprise waiting for them in the room (that was some sort of cross between ‘lounge’ and ‘conference room’) that Poe led them to. A certain tall, ginger-haired man was waiting in the room when they entered. 

“Hey babe,” he said to Poe. “I got your message. What--”

“ _Babe_?” Rey and Ben yelped in unison.

 

* * *

  

“...and it took us five years, but we _finally_ made it back to Kolb,” Rey said.

“You went through _how many_ different universes?” Poe asked.

“We lost count a while ago,” Ben said.

“And you said this was something _the Force_ did?” Hux asked.

“Is that even how the Force works?” Poe asked Leia.

She shrugged. “I never trained in it,” she said. “I don’t think we can rule anything out.”

“Speaking of weird things,” Rey said. “Do you have any idea who left that crazy ransom note on Ben’s ship? It was kind of weird to leave a note threatening to kill someone who presumably kidnapped a Jedi.”

Hux and Poe exchanged glances. “You threatened to _kill_ them?” Poe asked Hux.

“Obviously,” Hux said. “You said we needed Rey back! And I figured that Ren--sorry, _Ben_ kidnapped her, and at the time, I was more than happy to have an excuse to murder him.” He looked over at Ben and shrugged. “No offense.”

“Babe, how can he _not_ be offended by that?” Poe asked.

“It was kind of mutual. Wasn’t it?”

Ben shrugged. “I guess it was,” he said. “But hold on, wait. How the _kriff_ did you end up here? With _him_?” He couldn’t keep the disgust out of his voice. Sure, he and Rey had seen more than one universe where Hux and Poe were together. But Ben had always figured that that was one of those weird things that universes did when they wanted to really make him and Rey miserable. He never in a million years would have imagined that they would actually come home to see them together.

“It’s kind of a funny story,” Poe said. “Do you want to tell it, or should I?” 

“Only you would find mutiny funny,” Hux sniped. Poe leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, and Ben thought he heard his mother grumble something under her breath. “Well, you disappeared, and nobody could figure out where the hell you went off to. So, naturally, I told everyone that the Jedi had killed you, making me the new Supreme Leader.” Ben opened his mouth to say something, but Hux cut him off. “Before you say whatever it is that you’re about to say, let me remind you that you did it first. _Obviously_ I knew you were lying when you told me that _she_ killed Snoke. I’m not a total idiot.” Ben snorted. 

_We’ve seen a lot of weird manifestations of Hux, but this knocks them all out of the system,_ Rey said silently.

_It’s rude to say that to him, right?_ Ben shot back.

“So how did you go from being Supreme Leader of the First Order to...whatever it is you do here?” Rey asked.

“Things were going smoothly for a little while. Too smoothly. I dropped my guard. I knew how one rose in the ranks in the First Order. There’s a surprising amount of ‘killing your way to the top’ in that organization.”

“That’s actually not surprising at all,” Rey said.

“Anyway, one day, a number of my commanding officers staged a mutiny. I was actually a little proud of the way they managed to band together so efficiently in order to kick me out, if I’m being honest.” He had a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, and he paused for a moment before Poe elbowed him. 

“Tell them the best part, babe,” Poe said. _Ugh._ Ben never wanted to hear the word ‘babe’ used as a pet name again.

“I’m getting to it, babe,” Hux said. “My officers staged a mutiny and tried to kill me. As efficient as their plan was, they didn’t manage to complete the job, and I escaped to the surface of the closest planet. I didn’t know what to do with myself for a long time. Obviously I couldn’t go back to the First Order, not unless I could guarantee that I wouldn’t be killed on sight. Which I couldn’t. And then it occurred to me: if I couldn’t join them, beat them.”

“I don’t think that’s how that expression goes,” said Ben.

“So I started making my way across the galaxy, trying to find the Resistance. We’d had intel that they were somewhere in the outer rim, but we couldn’t get anything more specific than that. And anyway, by the time I started looking for them, so much time had passed that I knew there was a good chance that they’d moved on already.” 

“But the Force was with us,” said Poe, giving Hux a goofy grin. “Because I crossed paths with Taj on Tattooine, of all places.”

“I had never been so happy to see a Resistance fighter in my entire life,” Hux said, giving Poe a goofy grin of his own. (Again: _ugh._ )

“So then what, you went back with Poe and the Resistance welcomed you with open arms?” asked Rey.

There was a sharp bark of laughter from Leia. “Stars above, no,” she said. “We threw him in a cell and then spent two weeks arguing about what to do with him.”

“I’ll have you know that by that point, I was _committed_ to bringing down the First Order,” Hux said. “If I had to go down, I was dragging them down with me.”

“It was the least you could do,” said Leia. “You were a war criminal, after all.”

“A war criminal who helped you win the war!”

“Hold on,” Rey said. “We need a minute. So what you’re saying is, the war is over, thanks in part to Hux, who is now dating Poe.”

Leia paused. “Yeah, that about sums it up. The war is over, and we’re now working to rebuild the galaxy. Which is probably never going to fully happen, but hey, we have to try, don’t we?”

“I still don’t get it,” Ben said, ignoring Leia. “How are you two _together?_ ”

“Oh, come on, _Ben_ ,” Hux said. “How is this any weirder than you and the scavenger being together?”

“We have a Force bond!” Ben shouted. “It’s different!” 

“What makes _your_ relationship more special than mine?”

“For kriff’s sake,” Leia said. “Rey, Poe, let’s get out of here and leave these two to their ‘who’s the better First Order traitor’ pissing content.”

“Hey! It is _not_ \--” Ben started to say, but they were already standing up to leave.

“And by the way, Rey,” Leia said, glancing at Ben. “Welcome to the family.”

Not that he’d ever expected his mother to protest his relationship, and not that he really even _wanted_ her approval, but the words--and the resulting expression on Rey’s face--were enough to make him close his mouth and get in on the ‘giving his partner a goofy grin’ thing. (Kriff, it was like a disease.) 

Rey met Ben’s eyes and smiled. (It probably counted as a goofy grin, but she was too beautiful for anything that could be described as ‘goofy’ to cross her facial features.) “It’s good to finally be home,” she said.

 

* * *

 

_Next time…_

“What’s up?” she asked, sensing a vague discomfort from him. When he didn’t respond, she grew worried. “What is it? Ben, you can tell me anything.”

“I want to surprise you,” he said. “I want to bring you somewhere and not tell you where we’re going. But given our history, I thought it might be a bad idea to knock you out and carry you there, so I haven’t figured out how to not do that and still keep the destination a surprise.”

Rey rolled her eyes. Skywalkers. Always so dramatic.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The text in that note is from the movie “Taken.” I can’t take credit for it.
> 
> Holy shit, they’re back! We’re almost here. Just one more chapter (an epilogue). Any thoughts as to what’s going to happen next for these two? Is this going to be a ‘happily ever after’ story? (Spoiler alert: hell _yes_ )


	26. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did Rey and Ben actually visit the future that one time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *takes deep breath* This is it. The final chapter. If you have stuck around this far, thank you so so much! All of your comments and kudos have been so nice to receive and it puts a smile on my face every time I get an email in my inbox letting me know that someone has enjoyed this enough to let me know. Writing this has been absolutely wild (if you’d have asked me pre-TLJ if I’d ever have the patience and focus to write a 90k+ word Star Wars fanfic, I would have laughed in your face) but I’ve had so much fun with it and it’s been such a delight to share it with y’all. I do still plan on writing some “deleted scenes” for this, so if you (like me) are not ready to part with these two AU-traveling nerfherders, keep an eye out for those - they’ll be added to the series. I also have a few more reylo projects in the works, so here’s a shameless plug to check out more of my reylo stuff. If you’ve enjoyed DtAURH, please do me a favor and share it!
> 
> And, without further ado, here's the epilogue.

They’d been home for five months, and Rey still couldn’t get over the fact that they’d made it home at all. 

The Resistance--which had turned into the _New_ New Republic (Ben was dismayed by the fact that they hadn’t come up with a better name for it)--had their hands full with trying to bring peace and order to the galaxy once again. And once they’d finally determined that Ben wasn’t going to go full Kylo Ren again, the new government had let him go with the sentence of a lifetime’s worth of community service. (Rey had some ideas about what they could do together in order to make that happen, but she hadn’t found a good way to bring them up with him yet.)

But they had an apartment of their own and access to a training facility where they could finally start training in the Force. Ben had never quite let go of his whole ‘you need a teacher’ thing, although they were both learning quite a bit from the completed holocron they now possessed. And Rey was happy _._ Like, really, actually _happy_.

It wasn’t perfect. She’d missed Finn and Rose’s wedding, and the birth of their first two children (both girls, Paige and Rey--Jedi!Rey still couldn’t believe they’d named their daughter after her). And seeing Hux and Poe acting like teenagers in love was still weird and difficult to witness, although she was handling it better than Ben was. (He and Hux still hadn’t gotten over their ‘who’s the better First Order defector’ pissing content. Rey, Leia, and Poe doubted they ever would.) And she couldn’t shake the guilt that she and Ben had vanished just when the galaxy needed a pair of strong Force-sensitives the most. But overall, things were good.

“You know you can’t sneak up on me, right?” she said to Ben one morning as she sat outside on the balcony of their apartment. “I’m Force-sensitive.” 

“Are you? I hadn’t noticed.” He leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek before sitting in the chair next to her.

“What’s up?” she asked, sensing a vague discomfort from him. When he didn’t respond, she grew worried. “What is it? Ben, you can tell me anything.”

“I want to surprise you,” he said. “I want to bring you somewhere and not tell you where we’re going. But given our history, I thought it might be a bad idea to knock you out and carry you there, so I haven’t figured out how to not do that and still keep the destination a surprise.”

Rey rolled her eyes. Skywalkers. Always so dramatic.

“I think you’ll like it,” he added when she didn’t respond. “I’ll tell you if you really want, but--”

“Ben,” she said. “It’s fine. I trust you not to kidnap and tie me up again.” (It turned out that bondage was a kink that neither of them had. It had been a weird night the one and only time they’d tried it.) “How long are we going there for?”

He gave her a look that said that he hadn’t gotten that far in planning yet. _Rushing into something without much planning. Typical_. “Can that be a surprise, too?” he asked.

 

* * *

 

Ben wasn’t really sure why he was so nervous about this. He and Rey had been, like, a million different places. And they were going somewhere that wasn’t even a new place, technically. But it had significance for them, which also meant that it had the possibility to dredge up not-so-happy times between them. But Rey would understand what he meant by it. Wouldn’t she?

Maybe he was feeling weird because he had his mother’s approval. Not that he _needed_ it, but he had needed to consult her about his plans, and she didn’t bother to hide how happy she was to hear what he had planned for Rey. She hadn’t exactly been subtle about dropping hints that she wanted grandchildren, but that wasn’t something Ben or Rey was ready for yet. He didn’t know if he’d ever be ready. Children were terrifying. It was _so much_ responsibility not to mess them up, and he’d die before he let any child have the same kind of upbringing that he or Rey had. 

“You aren’t going to give me one hint about where we’re going?” Rey said as she sat in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon (because yes, as painful of a topic as it was, the ship had technically been left to Ben). She was facing away from the dashboard, staring at the ceiling.

“You could dig through my head for it if you really wanted to know,” he said as he punched in the coordinates.

“What would be the fun in that?” she asked lightly. He thought it was still a little weird that they had reached a point where they could joke about invading each other’s minds to find information, but it was a very telling sign of how far they’d come since they’d first accidentally created the Force bond. Plus, they’d had to learn how to stop having half-telepathic conversations. It creeped everyone else out to only hear half of what they were saying to each other, and people were still afraid of him enough that they didn’t take well to displays of strong Force ability from either him or Rey. Which was fair to him, but not to her.

“We’ll be there soon enough,” he said as soon as they jumped to hyperspace. “It’s not a long flight from here.”

“How long?” she asked.

He was about to make another comment about trying to keep their destination a surprise when he caught her meaning. _Oh._ “Long enough to go exploring,” he said with a smirk. “The captain’s room on this ship is pretty spacious. Let me show you.”

 

* * *

 

Rey didn’t know enough about the galaxy to have much of an idea of where Ben was bringing her, but as they neared their destination, she started to formulate an idea. As they dropped out of hyperspace, she felt him grow more nervous. It was endearing, actually. And flattering to know that he cared so much. (Not like Rey didn’t know how he felt about her, but having little reminders like this was never going to get old for her.)

As they neared the planet’s surface, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Are we going where I think we’re going?” she asked, smiling up at the ceiling. (He’d asked her to face away from the dashboard of the Falcon in order to maintain the surprise.)

“Maybe,” he said. She could almost hear the smile in his voice. “Five more minutes.” 

Without looking away from the ceiling (which was oddly mesmerizing, but then again, she found basically everything about the Falcon mesmerizing), she reached out to touch his hand. It was a simple gesture, but it always carried such a heavy weight to it. She knew the exact moment she realized she was in love with him, but she still hadn’t quite figured out when it had happened. She didn’t think it went as far back as that night in the hut, but _something_ had clicked between them that night.

“Can I turn around now?” she asked as she felt the ship touch down onto the ground.

Ben powered the ship down before answering her. “No,” he said. “Come on. Follow me.”

She rolled her eyes. She was _pretty_ sure she knew where they were, but he just had to be so dramatic about it. But being pretty certain about their location and actually _seeing_ it as he took her hand and led her down the Falcon’s ramp were two completely different things.

“Varykino,” she breathed as he paused in front of the villa. She could feel how nervous he was, and she would have chastised him for it if she didn’t know exactly why he was so nervous.

“I don’t know if it’s exactly like we saw it when we went back in time,” he said. “But it does still belong to the Naberrie family, and I am a part of that family, so…”

Rey didn’t know what to say. Yet another thing that she and Ben shared was their inability to name certain feelings, such as the ones she was feeling now. Happiness, but...something a little deeper than normal happiness. Love? Maybe it was another facet of love. So instead of trying to put the feelings into words, she turned towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a kiss, trying to infuse the motion with everything she was feeling. “You were right,” she said when she finally broke the kiss. “I love it.”

The smile he gave her was almost blinding in its intensity. (Or was that the sunlight reflecting on the lake? And stars, what a beautiful lake. She was still scared of water--you could take the scavenger out of the desert, but you couldn’t take the desert out of the scavenger--but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to dive into the water.) “Come on,” he said. “I have something I want to show you.” 

Surprisingly, Ben’s nervousness hadn’t disappeared when he’d shown her where they were. If anything, it had increased. Rey wondered if it was because being here brought up memories of what their relationship had been like when they were here before, but that didn’t seem quite right. So what was bothering him so much?

Neither of them spoke as he led her up onto a deck that faced the lake. They hadn’t come to this part of Varykino when they’d visited the past, but Rey thought she could see the grassy hill that they’d woken up on off to the side.

“It’s just as beautiful as it was before,” she said in an attempt to break Ben out of his nervous silence. “Maybe more so, since we aren’t afraid of being caught.”

He just smiled at her. She could feel that he was trying to figure out how to put the words together to say whatever it was that was on his mind. “Did I tell you that my grandparents were married here?” he asked. 

She shook her head. “I remember a conversation about sand and an attempted seduction using floating pears,” she said.

“And a comment about my grandparents being hot.”

She blushed. “You have good genes,” she said.

“Skywalkers may bear a heavy legacy, but at least we look good doing it.”

Rey snorted. “You beautiful, powerful, Force-sensitive drama queens.”

“Actually, the one queen in my family wasn’t Force-sensitive,” he said. “And we’re standing in her family’s home. Where she married my grandfather.”

“It’s a nice place for a wedding,” she said as she looked out at the landscape around them.

“Yes,” he said. “It is.” Something about the tone in his voice made Rey turn to look at him. “Look,” he said, the next words spilling out in a rush. “I know that I’m terrible with words, especially where you’re concerned, and I know that our relationship is too deep and unique for normal labels, and not that I’m afraid that you’re ever going to leave me or that I’m ever going to leave you, and I don’t even know if marriage holds any significance to you, but willyoumarryme?”

Rey inhaled sharply. He was right on all counts: he tended to say the wrong things to her, their relationship was like nothing else in any universe, neither of them was going to leave the other, and marriage didn’t mean much to her. They weren’t really a thing on Jakku, and she’d never even considered the idea of being in a serious, committed relationship with someone...well, until Ben.

But clearly, judging by the amount of tension and nervousness radiating from him, marriage was a big deal from him. 

She realized that he was expecting a response from her when his heartbeat started to rise, signaling the start of a panic attack. “ _Of course_ I’ll marry you,” she said. “We’re basically married already, aren’t we? I’m pretty sure your mom thinks so.” Maybe bringing up Leia wasn’t the smartest idea, given that Ben’s relationship with her was still fragile, but the general had already been acting like Rey had been adopted into the family anyway. And besides, Varykino technically belonged to Leia, too.

“I think she likes you more than she likes me,” he said. “I think she loves me, but she doesn’t like me.”

“I’ve always wanted a family,” Rey said. “I never thought that this was the way I’d go about getting one, but I wouldn’t trade it for the galaxy. Or any universe.”

“Even that one where we went into the future?”

“Was that really the future, though?” she said. “We were what, ten years older in that universe than we were at the time?”

“Something like that,” he said. “Why?”

“Because that was five years ago, and we had an eight-year-old daughter,” Rey said. “So it couldn’t be the future. The math doesn’t work out.” Something in that sentence caused some of the tension in Ben to lessen a little bit. “Were you worried about that future?” she asked.

“No. Maybe. Yes, a little,” he confessed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have kids. At least not right now.”

Rey paused. “You don’t want children, or you don’t like children?” This was as good a time as any to bring up her idea for the lifetime of community service that the government had demanded of Ben. 

“Why do you ask that?” he said slowly.

“I had an idea,” she said. “And it _was_ something present in that universe.”

It took a moment for Ben to capture the meaning of her words. “A school?” he said.

She nodded. “Think about it. We won’t be like the Jedi of old. Or the Sith. Neither of those extremes is right. But there have to be Force-sensitives all over the galaxy, and we could provide them a place to learn and grow. We have the holocron, and the ancient Jedi texts. And between the two of us, there’s…”

“Balance,” he said.

“No one should have to feel alone with their Force sensitivity,” she said. “You and me, it took a long time for us to realize that. And I don’t mean it in the same way that I mean it for us, because I sure as hell don’t want to bring anyone else into our relationship. But the galaxy needs a place for Force-sensitives who want to learn about their power to come and study. If nothing else, than so that no one preys on them.” She said the words softly, anticipating the way they would affect him. 

But to her surprise, Ben nodded slowly. “You’re right,” he said. “No one should have to...have to go through what I went through. Not with Luke, and not with Snoke.” He paused before adding, “Have you ever been to Yavin IV?”

“No, why?”

He smiled at her. “I think I know where to start our school. There’s a Force-sensitive tree from a seedling of the tree that grew at the old Jedi temple on Coruscant. I refuse to let our school be called the New Jedi Order, or even the _New_ New Jedi Order, but a Force-sensitive tree is probably a pretty great feature to have at a school for Force-sensitives.”

She laughed. “I would say that you’re making that up, except that I can feel that you’re not.” Rey stepped forwards to wrap her arms around his waist. “So that’s it, then?” she said. “Wedding today, starting our new school tomorrow?”

“Are you kidding?” Ben said as he wrapped his arms around her. “After everything we’ve been through, we deserve a longer honeymoon than that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS - If you’re curious about some of my rejected ideas for this:  
> -Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra  
> -an actual Game of Thrones AU (and not the half-assed mini one I wrote)  
> -zombies and/or werewolves  
> -Ghostbusters  
> -[Groundhog Day](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/)  
> -taking the place of the SW cast as ep IX is being filmed  
> -Sailor Moon (or other anime)  
> -[Spaceballs](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/)  
> -Dungeons and Dragons
> 
> The list of “didn’t make it into the outline for this but I still want to write it” is even longer (and it includes a few AUs that I’ve gotten as requests), but I’m leaving that as a surprise in hopes that some of y’all come back for more from this series :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :) Feel free to find me on tumblr [@radioactivesaltghoul](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com). I would love to hear what you think about this!
> 
> Also, if you have any suggestions or requests for AUs, feel free to leave them here (or on tumblr), but I can't guarantee they'll be written - I can't write an AU for something I haven't seen or read. I do have this all outlined, but I've decided to stick this in a series so that I can post some "deleted scenes" for AUs that didn't make it into the outline. :)
> 
> Also also let me do a bit of shameless self-promotion and if you're enjoying this, I have other reylo stuff that I've written! It's all posted under the same profile and it's pretty much all along the same lines of "nothing I ever write here is meant to be taken seriously except for my desire to see these two nerfherders happy."


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